Housing charity calls for government legislation

A HOUSING charity is calling on the Government to bring in legislation the prevent landlords charging prospective tenants “viewing fees”.

Threshold revealed that they were contacted by a woman after she was charged €500 to view a property.

There are currently no laws preventing landlords from charging a fee to allow a prospective renter to view a vacancy.

John-Mark McCafferty, CEO of Threshold, has said it fee allows landlords to discriminate between potential tenants.

He said: “It provides a barrier where there is so little to let.

“Everyone will grudge paying that – but those on middle to high incomes will feel ‘well, what choice do I have? I really want a shot at this accommodation’.

A landlord charged hopeful tenants to view the property

“Now for people who are on lower incomes, people who are on Rent Supplement or HAP, it’s clearly way beyond many of their capacity to do.”

The Social Democrats also hit out against the practice and called on the government to ban it.

The party’s political director Anne Marie McNally, said: “This practice is outrageous and exploitative. It piles more pressure on struggling renters who are increasingly desperate to secure housing in the midst of a crisis of supply that has reached epidemic proportions.

“The law on extra charges being applied by landlords is in fact very far from clear and needs to be clarified by the government as a matter of urgency.

“I have also heard of landlords seeking to charge tenants extra for bin collections and car parking. In some cases, it’s clear that these extra fees are being used to bump up rents indirectly, so as to circumvent the current rent caps.

“Quite simply, all sneaky extra charges should be banned.”