Contract Holder Fees

In Wales it is an offence under the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, for a landlord or agent to charge contract holders (tenants) any prohibited payments/fees.  The following are payments that are permitted under the Act:

• Security deposit (bond);
• Holding deposit;
• Payments in default **;
• Payments in respect of council tax;
• Payments in respect of utilities;
• Payments in respect of a television licence;
• Payments in respect of communication services.

Please note the following additional payments that are permitted for contract holders with Standard Occupation Contracts: 

Right to retention of holding deposit for providing false and misleading information: A landlord or agent may be entitled to retain a holding deposit should a tenant have provided false or misleading information at the time of applying for a tenancy.

Right to retention of holding deposit for failing to enter a tenancy agreement: Should a tenant choose not to enter a tenancy agreement, or fail to take reasonable steps to enter a tenancy agreement, a landlord or agent may be able to retain the holding deposit.

Duplicate issue of a Standard Occupation Contract to replace a missing copy.

Early termination of contract in situations where you want to leave a fixed-term tenancy early, the landlord is fully within their rights to expect to be paid for the entirety of the tenancy.

** Examples of types of default payments could be:

• Missed appointments – such as a landlord arranging with a tenant for a contractor to carry out remedial work at a property, and a tenant subsequently refusing entry, or not being home to allow entry, resulting in charges to the landlord.
• Avoidable or purposeful damage to property – damage to a property caused by neglect or careless or wilful behaviour by the tenant.
• Replacement keys – loss of keys by the tenant requiring a landlord to arrange for the cutting of new keys and delivery of those keys to the tenant.
• Emergency/out of hours call-out fees – fees incurred as a result of a landlord arranging for someone to attend the tenant’s property at the request of a tenant, such as a locksmith or an emergency glazier at the early hours of the morning, when the problem had been caused by the tenant in the first place, such as a window broken on purpose, or keys locked inside a house.