Iain Stewart
Main Page: Iain Stewart (Conservative - Milton Keynes South)Letting Agent Fees (Tenants)
Iain Stewart Excerpts(6 years, 11 months ago)
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Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) on securing this important debate. Many of the points I wished to make were eloquently made by my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Sir Henry Bellingham), so I will not repeat them all.
My interest in speaking in this debate was borne from a meeting I had during the recess with the Milton Keynes Private Landlords Association, which talked me through the legitimate costs it incurs. Very often, it incurs a loss on the checks it has to do for landlords, which is passed on indirectly in higher rental costs to the tenants.
Although there is a genuine problem, and there are some rogue landlords out there, I am worried about the unintended consequences that a blanket ban would have. I agree that it could lead to higher rents. Particularly for people in long-term rentals, that extra monthly cost would significantly exceed the one-off cost they may have to pay in letting fees. I also worry that it will exclude more difficult tenants—those on lower incomes and non-EU nationals—from the market.
There is a wider issue to do with housing. Now is not the time—not in 30 seconds—but I have my own proposals for expanding shared ownership to deal with the balance of buy to let and property owning.
What is needed is better transparency. If we are to have a blanket ban on letting fees, the danger is that the cost gets passed on to the landlord and then passed on in higher rents. I am interested in exploring the tenant passport model, which could be based on the mortgage-in-principle situation—people could have what is almost a “right to rent” done in advance, with the costs taken from both the landlord and the agency. The market could deliver a very cost-effective such product, which would increase transparency and the ease with which people could rent.
Although I would like to expand on that, I am out of time. I hope it has been helpful.