Member Article

North East property company reorganises in advance of Tenant Fees Act...

A LEADING North East property management company believes that the introduction of a controversial Act may lead to less availability of private rented accommodation.

And now Daniel Gibson, who runs Daniel Craig Residential, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, is set to weather the storm, after taking a number of steps to ensure his business is not affected.

The Tenant Fees Act, which comes in to force on 1 June, stops landlords from charging more than five weeks’ rent as a deposit, banning letting fees and disallowing charges for damages without providing evidence of costs.

According to Mr Gibson this new law will hit the private rental sector and “a number of landlords are already putting their properties up for sale because it is no longer viable to have them.”

“This new Act means that the letting charges which would normally be split between the tenant and the landlord now have to be completely paid by the landlord,” said Daniel, “which could be a huge blow for the private rental market.”

Daniel Craig Residential has more than 1000 properties on its books across Tyne and Wear and beyond, which Mr Gibson reveals puts his company in a stronger position – and he’s taking steps to ensure that his business is protected.

“We are not a traditional agency, we own a lot of property ourselves and we work very closely with investors, specialising in portfolio development and management. This means we are not as exposed to the tenant fee ban as other agencies,” he said.

“We are also set to move offices from our local high street to a new office block and the money we are saving by doing that will off-set some of what we are set to lose,” he said.

“But we appreciate that not every letting company – particularly those with only one or a few properties – will be able to find a way of absorbing these costs and that means landlords will either see their fees dramatically increased or have to opt to self-manage their properties.”

“We are hopefully going to be able to show people a more cost effective way of managing their property portfolio.”

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