Partner Article

Take heed of OFT on greedy lettings fees

A leading North East lettings agent has condemned a government report accusing letting agents of charging excessive fees for “scaremongering and slandering” – but has warned the industry must still pay close attention to it.

A report published last week by the Office of Fair Trading claimed some agents “exploit customers” with “surprise charges” and are all too often less than transparent about fees.

But while acknowledging the existence of bad practice and bad practitioners, Ajay Jagota of KIS Lettings, who manage properties for some 700 landlords across the North East from branches in Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside, feels the report paints an unfair picture of a typical agent and risks alienating responsible practitioners at a time when the government and the lettings industry need to work together.

He said: “I’m sure I speak for a lot of landlords and lettings agents when I say how sick of being judged on isolated and extreme examples of poor practice, which on no level reflects typical standards of conduct or service.

“There is no question, there are dodgy operators out there, and landlords and tenants alike need to be careful about who they do business with – but this report poisons the reputation of good lettings agents who can be relied on to do right by their clients.

“I was particularly infuriated by the OFT’s claims that agents interests are not always aligned with those of landlords. This couldn’t be further from the truth – in fact countless landlords up and down the country have been convinced of the benefits of lettings agents precisely as we have their interests at heart.

“Of this doesn’t change the fact that as an industry we need to take serious steps to improve our image. Unless we take a stand on stamping out rogue agents we may as well be trying to let houses by only letting prospective tenants see pictures of the septic tank, and for all its faults, we still should pay close attention to what the OFT are saying.

“The report stopped short of calling for state regulation of the industry. If standards don’t, it just gives more ammunition to people who have an interest in introducing regulation.

“At KIS we offer a clear fee guarantee. Transparent tariffs tenants and landlords can trust, with no nasty surprises. It’s great for their confidence and peace of mind and it’s great for our reputation. It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do for our customers and the right thing to do for our business.

“Greedy fees are in no-one’s interest, but neither is slandering and scaremongering.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ajay Jagota .