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  • Rent increase after Fee Ban? No thank you

Rent increase after Fee Ban? No thank you

17 Dec 2019

The Fee Ban was a well-needed piece of legislation as it stopped agents from abusing the power they have over the tenants.

Many agencies were charging tenants for referencing, for inventories, for viewings, when actually the landlords were supposed to pay for that service. It resulted in hefty application fees, sometimes so high that it prevented tenants from moving home.

Unfortunately, the Fee Ban has impacted the rent negatively, as many agents tried recouping their losses via increased rents, in a move to transfer the cost of the bill to the tenants, as explained in this article.

At Rent Happily, we haven't raised a single rent due to the Fee Ban, because we have never changed fees to tenants in the first place, even when it was still lawful to do so.

Also, we have always encouraged long term tenancies, and not charging application fees has been instrumental in allowing free movement of tenants if they wish to do so, which is one of the key premises of the rental market. And our results speak for themselves, our retention level being twice as long as the market average.

Actually, we see the Fee Ban as an opportunity for agencies to become more efficient, to charge only what is necessary, when necessary, and to favour longer tenancies.




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  • Rent Happily has been managing our properties for seven years now. As a team they are fantastic, whether liaising with tenants, keeping up to date with any maintenance when needed, or making sure that we always comply with any new regulations. When we have tenant changeovers, they have been very quick to find new tenants so any void periods have been minimal. I thoroughly recommend their property management services.

    Caryl and Becky W. Happy Landlords
  • After nearly three happy years renting this house, I now have to leave. I'm so thankful for this time living at the house; absolutely everything has been positive about this experience. Thanks a lot for everything!

    Damaris M. Happy Tenant
  • I have been renting with this agency for more than 5 years and never had a problem with them. Very good service and very kind and helpful when we need to sort something out. Highly recommended.

    Mario S. Happy Tenant
  • I have let through Rent Happily for a few years now and can honestly say they are the best letting agency I've used. They are friendly, reasonable and incredibly helpful. I highly recommend them.

    Niamh W. Happy Tenant
  • We have rented a property with Rent Happily for 6+ years now. They have always been very helpful and if there are any issues they are happy to get the problem fixed, in the quickest, fairest manner. The team are very friendly and approachable, you couldn't ask for more.

    Tom C. Happy Tenant
  • Thanks for everything. You’re dealing with my application so efficiently and faster than anyone I've experienced before in this kind of situations.

    Matias J. Happy Tenant