Private letting agents’ services and charges in Brighton and Hove are to be reviewed by a cross-party panel of councillors.
The review follows concerns raised by a Citizens Advice Bureau report.
The CAB report said that 94 per cent of letting agents surveyed nationally imposed additional charges on tenants.
Now letting agents and housing experts in are being invited to give evidence to a Brighton and Hove City Council scrutiny panel.
The panel will meet to take evidence at 10am on Friday 17 December at Hove Town Hall.
Councillor Paul Elgood, the Liberal Democrat member for Brunswick and Adelaide and chairman of the scrutiny panel, said: “Brighton and Hove has the sixth-largest private rented sector in the country, with thousands of residents having dealings with letting agents.
“We need to get a better picture of what the issues are locally, why these charges are being imposed and what, if anything, can be done about them.”
The panel includes Councillor Bill Randall, who represents Hanover and Elm Grove.
He is the Green Party convenor, its housing spokesman and the founder editor of the specialist magazine Inside Housing, with a long track record of campaigning on housing issues.
It also includes Labour’s housing spokesman Councillor Christine Simpson, who represents Hollingdean and Stanmer and sits on the council’s Housing Management Consultative Committee.
Councillor Elgood said, on the Brunswick Blog, that the panel expected to publish a report with a number of recommendations in the spring.
Anyone who wishes to give evidence to the panel but cannot attend on Friday 17 December can
- email scrutiny@brighton-hove.gov.uk
- phone 01273 290451 or
- write to Private Letting Agents, Overview and Scrutiny, Brighton and Hove City Council, King’s House, R128, Hove, BN3 2SR.
Whilst it is absolutely wonderful that this scrutiny panel will assemble evidence that produces a clear report reflecting just how onerous agents practices are, the extent to which their “cut”, huge add-on charges and 6-monthly agreements distort the market and inflate rental costs – what good will it do?
What power does BHCC have to change this, to take us back to the days of a one month deposit, affordable rents that only rose by a few Pounds from time to time and annual or longer rolling rental agreements? Provision of private-rented homes in other words that you knew you could live in affordably on a rental footing for decades.
Not as many people aspire to Council or Housing Association tenancy as some politicians would have it.
Face a review…
Ooooh that must be a little scary for them.
We dont need lettings agencies.
It should be law that only a landlord is allowed to rent his/her property.
If a middle person is used, such as a letting agency,
the Landlord should cover all costs.
If they complain about not having the money to do this,
then maybe its time for them to sell one of the many properties in their portfolios.
Letting agencies have no place in the new big society.
There should be an in-depth review on estate agents,
and their finances, investments and profits be made public.
They have been ripping everyone off for far to long,and we are sick of it…
SOMETHING URGENTLY NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THESE AGENCYS NOW….never in my life have i come accross such a bunch of liers,thieves ,shysters..DISCUSTING..i made the grave ..mistake..of renting with brightons..LEADING..theres a clue letting agency,they treated me like a dog,i,m not on any benifits have no crimminal record or bad credit,yet i still cant belive how bad they were,takeing me for nearly 10 grand in 5 mounths i was a fool and a mug for beliveing in there bullshit,i hate to say it but it seems like most of brighton and hoves letings agencys are scam artists and and shysters chargeing top money for crap and substandard accomodation,god help people on a low income in brighton as the agencys have this fantasy of 100k profetional middle class white couples only