One of the UK’s leading tenants’ organisations has revealed that rents are beginning to rise in Wales just a few weeks after the tenant fees ban began.
Renters Union UK says it has strong anecdotal evidence of landlords and letting agents increasing rents to cover the lost fees following the Welsh fees ban, which went live on September 1st, and that some agents are struggling as they fight to replace lost revenue.
Industry watchers will not be surprised by the organisations’ comments; ARLA Propertymark has consistently warned that the regulatory straightjacket created by the fees ban would sooner or later force up rents in both England and Wales.
And Douglas Haig, vice chair of the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) and its chief in Wales, says his organisation warned the Welsh government during its consultations that rents would rise after the ban.
“Fees have definitely gone up for a lot of landlords but this will not cover the loss of the agency fees for agents,” he told Wales Online.
“Agents will now be conducting wholesale property reviews of their portfolios. It is likely that the people who will be the most hit by this are people who have been in a rental property for a long time as that rent has stayed static.
“The two groups least likely to move are families and/or people on benefits as moving is expensive.
“This means much of the cost is being borne by the people who are not moving, not just the people who are.”
Read more about the fees ban.
The post Rents rising in Wales after fees ban, say tenants! appeared first on The Negotiator.