Shelter should step back and consider the damage it has done in Scotland before trying to bring its campaign on tenancy fees down south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The warning comes from Sue Hopson, brand standards director for lettings chain Martin & Co.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martin & Co has 16 offices in Scotland, and while Hopson said that they themselves had experienced only a handful of tenants going in to their branches to demand money back, they all knew of worse-affected agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShelter may think it has been on the side of tenants, but tenants could well think exactly the opposite and believe that Shelter has done them no favours at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur biggest concern is that if, and when, rents rise, the Scottish government will be under pressure from Shelter to step in and take control of rents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, on the one hand Shelter will be saying that we must not charge tenants fees, and on the other that rents are unaffordable. You just can\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopson said that the main difficulty for Scottish agents is that the Government has issued no guidance as to whether tenancy fees charged in the past should now be refunded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said: \u201cThe Government has kept very quiet. We are using a letter that ARLA has prepared for agents to send to tenants, saying that pending clarification about retrospective fees, we will not be making any refunds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, Martin & Co will be stopping taking fees \u2013 the writing is on the wall. The question about retrospective refunds remains a grey area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said that some Scottish letting agents are planning to get together to go to court to challenge certain tenants\u2019 claims for refunds, in the hope of establishing a precedent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopson said that Shelter would have far more difficulty in England in achieving a ban on tenancy fees: \u201cUnlike in Scotland, where there was existing legislation, Shelter would have nothing to hang its hat on south of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would have to do some extensive lobbying of the Government, and face a huge backlash from agents. We have a new housing minister, but I am sure he has more important things on his plate than looking at letting agents\u2019 fees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopson confirmed that in Scotland, letting agents, including some well-established firms, are already closing as a result of the twin whammy of the ban on fees and the need to place tenants\u2019 deposits, both new and ongoing, in a custodial scheme by November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n