Hidden Tenancy Fees: What Your Landlord is Stealing

The Student Extortion

It is January. You and your friends are panicking to secure a house for Year 2. You find a damp but acceptable 4-bedroom house.

The letting agent says: "Great. To secure the property, we need £100 each for referencing, £50 each for inventory checks, and a £700 deposit per person."

You assume this is normal. You pay it out of your overdraft. You have just been robbed. The letting agent has committed a criminal offense.

The Tenant Fees Act 2019

In 2019, the UK Government passed the Tenant Fees Act. It was designed to stop letting agents from treating students like cash machines.

The law is incredibly strict. Almost all tenancy fees are now entirely illegal.

Letting agents are legally FORBIDDEN from charging you for:

Referencing checks.

Credit checks.

Inventory checks (check-in or check-out).

"Admin" fees or "contract negotiation" fees.

Professional cleaning at the end of the tenancy (they cannot force you to use a specific company).

What They CAN Legally Charge

There are only a few things a landlord or agent can legally ask you to pay:

Rent.

A Refundable Tenancy Deposit: This is legally capped at 5 weeks' rent. (If they ask for 6 weeks, they are breaking the law).

A Refundable Holding Deposit: This is to reserve the property while references are checked. It is legally capped at 1 week's rent, and it MUST be deducted from your first month's rent.

Late Rent Penalty: If you are 14 days late, they can charge interest at 3% above the Bank of England base rate.

Lost Key Replacement: The exact cost of the key, backed up by a receipt.

How to Fight Back

Letting agents still try to charge illegal fees because they know 19-year-old students are terrified of losing the house and won't argue.

If they ask for an admin fee, politely email them back: "I am reviewing the fees against the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Can you confirm under which schedule the £100 referencing fee is legally permitted?"

They will instantly drop the fee. They know they are caught. If they refuse, report them to Trading Standards; they face a £5,000 fine.

The Strategy: Never sign a contract in a panic. Use our Student Room Cost Calculator to budget for the legal costs (rent and the 5-week deposit). If an agent asks for a penny more than what is legally allowed, threaten them with the Tenant Fees Act.