A housing action group has found that out of 15 letting agents in its town, only two are displaying their fees correctly,
Swindon Housing Action Campaign, which still has more letting agents to investigate, also found that of the 15, four only had their fees on display in their offices and not on their websites.
Four had no information on fees either on their website or in their office and 11 had no landlord fees on their website.
Five had no tenant fees displayed.
Members of the group were told by one agent that it does not put landlord fees on its website.
Since last May, letting agencies have been legally obliged to show fees charged to tenants and landlords both in their offices and on their websites.
The campaigners have met with Swindon’s Trading Standards and drawn their attention to the breaches.
Martin Wicks of SHAC told the local paper: “The law on transparency of fees is supposed to enable tenants and landlords to compare fees and service provided by different agencies and make an informed choice. They can’t do that unless the agencies comply with the law.
“It’s now nearly a year since the law was introduced and some of them appear to have simply ignored it.
“SHAC is writing to local agencies calling on them not only to comply with the law, if they are in breach, but to make the necessary information more easily available by showing links to it on the home page of their websites.
“The information that is available is very patchy. Tenants and landlords should be able to easily see the full costs which each agency charges for their service. They should be able to see the full up-front costs which have to be paid before you can rent a property.
“Tenants and landlords should be able to see what each are charged to be sure that there is no ‘double charging’.”
Name and shame, please!
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Does this include posting landlord fee details on third party websites such as Rightmove Zoopla and otm?
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Bored of reading these articles. Seriously.
When are we going to see articles showing that the powers that be are dealing with these issues. And I’m not talking about the toothless NFOPP etc.
I have reported dozens of names to Trading Standards, including some of the biggest names in the industry. No effect whatsoever. Meanwhile I sit here compliant because I want to be that better agent.
But does it get me anywhere..? I don’t think anybody notices, or indeed cares.
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Well said – completely agree.
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