NLA claims a victory for landlords

The National Landlords Association (NLA), which represents almost 14,000 landlords, has welcomed the decision by the Office of Fair Trading to issue High Court proceedings against a major High Street letting agent.

The NLA has received vast amounts of correspondence supporting its recent campaign against these extortionate renewal fees, including from landlords who are being sued by letting agents for refusing to pay-up.

Currently, many landlords in London and the South East who have been managing a property on their own and who simply want to renew the tenancy agreement for a further 12 months, can expect to pay 10% or 11% of the annual rent as a renewal commission to the letting agent. For many properties in the region, this could be a figure running into thousands.

John Socha, Vice Chairman, NLA, in welcoming this announcement said: “The NLA has been pivotal at encouraging landlords to come forward and complain about these ‘money for nothing’ fees which seem to have become the norm in London and the surrounding region.

“We very much welcome the OFT’s decision to seek an injunction in this case and hope this sends out a signal that this fee, where the agent has done nothing to earn it, is unwarranted and unfair and should be abolished as soon as possible.”

Most letting agents in other parts of the UK charge a small administration fee for a ‘let only’ renewal. This covers contacting the tenant, negotiating the length and level of the tenancy along with signing the renewal and returning completed paperwork. This often costs less than £95 plus VAT.

For further information on the OFT action, please visit: oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/28-08