‘No letting fees’ adverts appear in rental market

Property managers appear to have already adjusted to next week’s ban on letting fees, by advertising rental homes as having ‘‘no letting fees’’. A ban on letting fees comes into force on December 12 and already rental adverts are emphasising that the landlord will cover the fee or that no fee will be charged. One agent said tenants needed to know that they didn’t have to wait for the ban to come in and potentially miss out on a property. Housing Minister Phil Twyford believes the ban will prevent the handover of up to $47 million in payments that he said had ‘‘no economic rationale’’. However, the jury is still out on whether the fee will effectively be transferred onto landlords and then passed onto tenants in the form of higher rents.