The bill before parliament to ban letting fees by christmas received Royal Assent today and passed into law, in effect altering the Residential Tenancies Act.
From 12 December 2018 letting fees that are currently being paid by tenants will be abolished.
Tenants will still be asked to pay rent in advance, and a bond.
Where the landlord gives consent to any assignment, subletting, or parting with possession of the premises by the tenant, the landlord shall be entitled to recover from the tenant any expenses reasonably incurred by the landlord in respect of the proposed transaction.
At Chic Property Management Ltd we have already made changes to our Property Management Authority which currently allows options for the recovery of the letting fee from the landlord either once the property is rented or over the life of the management of the property.
We anticipate the increased costs to the landlord will likely be offset in a one off rent increase of approximately 2.00%. Our current government wanted to encourage longer term tenancies, however, we anticipate the reduced cost in moving will mean tenancies will shorten if there is any change at all.
Please feel free to contact Chic if you wish to discuss this matter further.
