Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:50 pm on 7 December 2016.
The people who suffer most from these letting agency charges are those who would, in the past, have been housed in council or housing association properties. It’s the shortage of social housing as a result of the right-to-buy legislation and the failure to replace those homes with new homes that has driven people eligible for employment support allowance into the private rented sector. There are many vulnerable people in poor health, living on benefits, being forced to move every year, even if they are model tenants. The letting agency fee has to be paid out of their employment and support allowance—the money that’s supposed to be used for food, heating and other essential items like clothing. So, there can be no justification for continuing with this fee, which, in any case, the letting agencies are charging both the tenants and the landlords for the same piece of work. What’s more, they are outrageously overcharging the tenants for things that don’t actually cost that much. So, it’s merely because there is such a sellers’ market that they are able to do this. So, the solution has to be to abolish letting agency fees and ensure that any fees that need to be charged are imposed on the landlord. Just as it happens with estate agents who are buying and selling properties, it is the seller who pays the fee. So, I hope that we will be able to resolve this matter. Obviously, I’m hoping that good luck will shine on me when the ballot for individual Members’ Bills comes up in January, and that I might be chosen so that I can introduce such a Bill. But I hope that whoever is lucky on that day will also consider this very important matter.