Fees ban is U-turn on what current and last three housing ministers kept telling industry

The past four housing ministers, including the incumbent Gavin Barwell, have all previously opposed tenant fee bans, research has revealed, as the Government showed no sign of a U-turn in its consultation on scrapping the charges.

The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has highlighted the discrepancy following the release of the long-awaited fee ban consultation on Friday.

In 2013, the then housing minister Mark Prisk said that a fees ban “cannot be the answer to tackle the minority of irresponsible agents”, while his predecessor, Kris Hopkins, described a ban as a “short-term gimmick” which would mean “higher rents by the back door”.

In 2015, Brandon Lewis, who is now a home office minister, said that it would “reduce the number of properties available to rent”.

Only last September current housing minister Gavin Barwell tweeted that it would be a “bad idea” which would increase rents.

He was forced into making a quick volte face when the ban was unexpectedly announced in the Autumn Statement, with a new tweet stating: “It is the nature of the job that you have to defend current policy even when you are working to change it.”

David Smith, policy director at the RLA, said: “High fees are clearly a problem for tenants, but this piecemeal approach will do nothing to address the fundamental problem, namely not enough homes to rent.

“As almost all housing ministers since the Conservatives came to power have noted, the proposals risk making rents more expensive, making life harder for tenants.”

Smith also warned that regulation without proper enforcement would only help rogue agents.

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6 Comments

  1. Will

    In short, conservative politicians don’t  know what they think!

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  2. James

    Politician in ‘lie to the electorate’ shock!

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  3. Naysayer

    Why they can’t just put a cap on tenancy fees, for example at £250. The trouble is the greedy agents who’ve been charging £500 odd have caused problems for everyone else.

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    1. Ding Dong

      £500 odd lol…
      double that for some in London/Home counties 
      http://www.romans.co.uk/tenancy-fees

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  4. Ding Dong

    Can you imagine if they suddenly built a million homes and demand fell off a cliff…

    David Smith at the RLA would be criticizing the Gov for bashing landlords by devaluing their assets by half…

    damn if you do, damn if you dont.

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  5. Woodentop

    There used to be new Labour, now we seem to have new Conservatives. I do not recognise them as the political party they were 5 years ago. They certainly have changed for the worse and lost touch with reality. I cannot keep thinking this is more to do with civil servants pulling the strings of weak politicians with their personal agenda.

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