For the first time ever England’s private rental market is to be policed by a dedicated national enforcement team, it has been revealed.

To be based out of Bristol it will concentrate on ensuring tenants are not charged illegal fees by letting agents or landlords after June 1st, when the first phase of the fees ban is introduced.

This will see all fees charged to tenants banned other than a holding deposit, the monthly rent and a security deposit. Letting agents and landlords will also be able to charge ‘default fees’ but only in certain circumstances.

These are fees charged when tenants for example lose their keys and new ones have to be cut, or decide to leave a tenancy before the minimum rental period has ended.

The new enforcement team in Bristol will coordinate a national effort to prevent tenants being over-charged, as well as weed out rogue landlords and agents, offer guidance to agents and oversee how the industry regulates itself.

“We are determined to make the private rented sector a fairer, more accessible market that works for all and I am delighted that local authorities will now be able to access the best advice and information from this new team,” says Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP.

“There is no place for unfair fees – now, with this new enforcement authority, we will be able to stamp them out.”

Fairer renting

The new team is a direct results of political pressure from campaigning organisations such as Shelter and Generation Rent, who have argued for some time that although the laws around a fairer rental market are more robust now, very few authorities have the resources to enforce them.

"It is great to see that the private rented housing market is now a better balance between landlords' and tenants' interests, and that the government is putting money behind its promise to ensure tenants are treated more fairly," says Sheraz Dar, CEO of CreditLadder.

"Here at CreditLadder we're doing our bit for fairness by helping tenants ensure their rental payments count towards their credit score in the same way that mortgage payments always have."

For more information about the new authority visit its new website.

CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score

If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.

CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.