Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Unfair or excessive agent fees are one of the most common consumer complaints that we receive and generally relate to consumers believing they have been misled by their agent about the charges made for using their service.
The average consumer is generally expected to be aware of, and understand, the fees listed in an agent’s documentation. They should make their own enquiries about charges they do not understand and check out any publicly available facts about average prices for themselves.
However, the average consumer is also likely to trust the agent (as the lettings professional) and rely on the integrity of any information provided or fee charged.
While it is not the role of the redress scheme to prescribe or prohibit any fee, the agent must be able to provide evidence to support the fees that they charge. Property Redress may choose to make an award to the consumer if it is decided that the agent’s fees are unfair or have not been presented in a clear and transparent way.
This guide is designed for both agents and landlords to explain what may be seen as an unclear, unfair or unjustifiable fee.
In all circumstances, any advertising and marketing of an agent’s services to a potential landlord client must be clear, accurate and not misleading. Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) protects consumers from exploitation and unfair or misleading practices and the Draft guidance offer more details.
‘Misleading’ can be an action or admission and extends to providing information that even if correct, is not presented in a misleading way.
When an agent offers their services, they should be clearly described and fairly reflect the way they are charged. For example, it may be a misleading action for an agent to say that they charge a specific percentage for a ‘full management service’ when they in fact make additional charges for certain management activities, such as organising maintenance work.
Fee transparency means that there should be no surprise costs and landlords should know what they are expected to pay before signing a contract with an agent.
Some fees due to the agent are not optional, such as ‘tenant find fee’ and some are optional/variable (such as early termination fees).
All fees that are variable or not optional should be transparent and up front.
It may not be necessary to include optional/variable fees in all marketing material. However, they should be clearly set out and brought to the attention of a potential landlord client early on and included in any contract signed.
All fee information, whether optional or non-optional, should be transparent and easily accessible, and not merely included in the small print of the contract or hidden on a website.
The agent should inform the landlord of any amount they propose to charge tenants, such as repairs for damage caused by the tenant or aborted contractor fees when the tenant agreed to but then was not there.
With the Tenant Fees Act and its guidance, this area is now clearer for all parties to understand what fees can be passed on to tenants and those which remain the landlords. These may, for example, relate to utility bills during a tenancy and whether they are included in the rent, or not. Again, all fees must be transparent and upfront, and this is important as any charges payable may have an impact on the number of tenants willing to rent the landlord’s property and affect a landlord’s decision whether to use that agent’s services.
In some cases, where a cost is shared between the landlord and tenant, it is important that each party knows what the other is paying, so that each can assess whether the portion they are being asked to pay is reasonable. It is not good practice to ‘double charge’ – charging both tenants and landlords for the same service to increase profits.
Where a charge is likely to be unexpected, or to come as a surprise to a potential landlord client, the agent should highlight these details individually. Examples of charges that may need to be given particular prominence include (but are not limited to):
The agent should act in the landlord’s best interests and inform the landlord of any commission or other benefits they receive from workmen after recommending them.
Agents should also not make any ‘secret profits’ from their landlord, meaning money the agent is paid in addition to their agreed commission from the landlord client, and which the landlord client does not know about.
Agents must not charge landlords for work not carried out or claim that work is necessary when it is not.
The agent should provide clear instructions to potential landlord clients on how any contracts are to be terminated and if the landlord may be responsible for any cancellation fees.
It may be unfair for an agent to charge cancellation fees in circumstances where the landlord has terminated the contract for good reason such as where the agent has breached the contract or has not carried out services with reasonable care and skill.
Property Redress make it clear in our Terms of reference and Condtions of resolution that we can make an award to any consumer if we decide that an agent’s fees are excessive, lack transparency or are misleading.
We continue to apply the CMA unfair commercial practices guide which is updated with the new DMCC Act provisions and the agent's duty to publish fees in the Consumer Rights Act 2015
If an agent continues to charge unfair fees or does not communicate their fees adequately, they could face disciplinary action by us and ultimately National Trading Standards.
The impact of this action is that without membership of an authorised redress scheme, which is compulsory, expelled agents can no longer lawfully trade as a letting or property manager.
Agents may wish to take legal advice to satisfy themselves that their fees, charges and commissions are structured and presented in a fair and transparent way.
