I ask whether the new Landlord Fees Act is retrospective, I,e. Can it ban you from making charges for an existing old contract ? If you go into periodic can you still legally charge the fees as the contract was made before the legislation ? I,e. Checkout inventory.
My position is that it is not illegal to charge because the agreement was made before the legislation was in force.
Hi Emma,
The new rules in the Tenant Fees Act apply to new tenancies (including renewals) entered into from 1st June 2019.
On 1st June 2020, they will apply to all existing contracts.
I hope that clears things up. We have a guide here with many additional clarifications in the comments 
https://blog.openrent.co.uk/tenant-fees-ban-what-landlords-need-to-know/
Sam
Hello, i would like to know about the new law that just came on the 1st of June as Im in a tenancy now. My situation is that now i’ve a contract with an agency that ends at the end of july, so i would want to stay for more months but with another person and the agency is asking me to pay 500 to amend that contract. Can they actually do that because as i understand im not amending anything, im doing a new one or a renewal.
Thanks.
Hi Soraya,
There are certain exceptions to the rules about fees. One exception is changes to tenancy agreements. If you are adding another person to the tenancy then this is I’m quite sure an allowable fee. If the agency can charge you £500.00 or not I wouldn’t like to say, though I suspect that this is their standard fee for arranging a new tenancy.
Mike.
This is an unreasonable amount for an hours work
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