A recent report by Citizens Advice, a national charity, claims that letting agents are out of control and it calls for the Government to extend its proposals to regulate letting agents, saying these must include a ban on the additional charges tenants often have to pay agents on top of their rent.

It said that such charges are usually for carrying out tasks that are no more than the routine business of letting and managing a property. It found that +73% of tenants were unhappy with the service that they got from their letting agent.

The report found that 94% of the letting agents surveyed imposed up to seven additional charges on tenants, not counting the tenancy deposit and rent in advance. While the amounts varied widely, in some cases these added up to well over £600.

Extra charges included a non-returnable holding deposit, a deposit administration charge, a reference check charge, an administration fee, a check-in inventory charge, a check-out inventory charge, and a tenancy renewal fee. The charges ‘often appear to bear no relation to the cost of the work involved’, said the report.