Regulation of Property Agents

Tom Pursglove Excerpts

1st reading: House of Commons
Wednesday 18th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. We will, of course, reflect on that matter when we respond to the leasehold consultation.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Is my hon. Friend able to reassure the House that any clampdown on excess service charges will not have an adverse impact on rents?

[Alok Sharma]

When we talk about the ban on letting agents’ fees and making the system fairer, the industry has talked about an increase in rents as a possible impact, but that did not come to pass in Scotland. We want to introduce fairness across the system, and I hope that that will ultimately mean lower charges and lower fees for tenants.