The Tenant Fees Ban Explained: What They Can Charge
Before 2019, renting somewhere came with a list of charges that had very little to do with anything: admin fees, referencing fees, inventory fees, a charge for drawing up the agreement, another for renewing it. Several hundred pounds before you had keys.
Almost all of it is now banned. Here's what a landlord or agent can still charge you, and what to do if they try anything else.
The short version
- Only a short list of payments is lawful. Everything else is a prohibited payment.
- Deposits are capped at five weeks' rent where annual rent is under £50,000.
- Holding deposits are capped at one week's rent.
- A prohibited payment must be refunded, however long ago you paid it.
What they can charge
The permitted list is deliberately narrow.
- Rent.
- A security deposit, capped at five weeks' rent where the annual rent is below £50,000, or six weeks above it.
- A holding deposit, capped at one week's rent, to reserve a property while referencing happens.
- Payments for changing the tenancy at your request, capped at £50 unless the landlord can evidence greater reasonable costs. Adding a housemate, changing a name, permitting a pet.
- Payments for ending the tenancy early at your request, limited to the landlord's actual loss.
- Utilities, council tax, TV licence and communication services, where you're responsible for them.
- Default fees, in two narrow situations only: a lost key or security device, and interest on late rent. Both limited to the reasonable costs actually incurred, and they must be evidenced in writing.
That's the whole list.
What they cannot charge
- Admin or application fees
- Referencing or credit check fees
- Inventory or check-in fees
- Check-out fees
- Renewal fees
- A charge for drawing up the tenancy agreement
- Professional cleaning as a condition of the tenancy, with receipts demanded
- Guarantor fees
- Fees for viewings
- Compulsory insurance you have to buy through them
Calling something by another name doesn't make it lawful. A "tenancy setup contribution" is an admin fee.
The two default fees, and how they're abused
These are where most unlawful charging now happens, because they're the only doorway left open.
Lost keys. You can be charged the reasonable cost actually incurred, and the landlord or agent must give you written evidence of that cost. So £12 for cutting two keys with the receipt attached is lawful. A flat "£50 lost key admin fee" is not, and neither is charging for the agent's time in handing over a spare.
Late rent. Interest can be charged, but only from 14 days after the rent was due, and only at 3% above the Bank of England base rate. A flat "£25 late payment fee" is not lawful.
If either turns up, ask in writing for the evidence of the actual cost. They frequently disappear at that point. If you're locked out covers the keys situation.
Holding deposits, and when you get them back
Capped at one week's rent, and it should be refunded within 7 days or put towards your first rent or deposit.
They can keep it only in limited circumstances: you provided false or misleading information, you failed a Right to Rent check, you withdrew, or you failed to take reasonable steps to enter the agreement.
Even then, they must tell you in writing why, within 7 days. And they can't hold multiple holding deposits on the same property from different applicants.
What to do about an unlawful charge
- Ask in writing for the legal basis and, for a default fee, the evidence of actual cost. Keep it polite and factual.
- Point out it's a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act if they don't withdraw it.
- Complain to the agent, then to their redress scheme. Free and independent.
- Report to trading standards through Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133. Councils enforce this and can fine up to £5,000 for a first offence, and much more for repeat breaches.
- Apply to the First-tier Tribunal for recovery if it isn't refunded.
Two things worth knowing. A landlord who holds a prohibited payment cannot serve a valid notice to end the tenancy until it's repaid, which is a significant lever. And there's no time limit that stops you asking for a refund of something you paid years ago. Claiming money back from your landlord.
Check your old paperwork
Genuinely worth an hour. A lot of people who rented before or around 2019 paid several hundred pounds in fees that were either already unlawful or became so, and still have the receipts in an email folder.
Look for anything described as admin, referencing, inventory, check-in, check-out or renewal.
What changed in 2026
The Renters' Rights Act didn't replace the Tenant Fees Act, but it closed two routes around it.
Rental bidding is banned. A landlord or agent must advertise a price and cannot invite or accept offers above it. That had become the way to extract more from applicants without charging a fee.
Rent in advance is capped. Demanding six months up front from anyone who didn't fit a template was the other route, and it disproportionately hit people on benefits, the self-employed and anyone without a UK guarantor.
What the Renters' Rights Act changed.
The honest summary
Rent, a capped deposit, a capped holding deposit, changes you asked for, utilities, and two narrow default fees. Nothing else is lawful.
Ask for evidence of any default fee in writing, because most of them don't survive the question. And check what you paid at the start of an older tenancy, because refunds have no cut-off.
And if an agent charged you something they shouldn't have, put it on the record. It's the fastest way for the next person to know what they're dealing with.
This guide covers England. Wales has its own broadly similar regime, and Scotland banned tenant fees earlier. General information rather than legal advice. Sources: GOV.UK, Tenant Fees Act guidance, Tenant Fees Act 2019.