Can a letting agent charge a renewal fee, and can they keep charging commission after you leave?

In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the answer depends on who is being charged: tenant-facing fees are regulated differently from fees charged to a landlord. The core landlord-agent issue is usually not whether a renewal, commission or notice-period fee exists, but whether the clause is fair, clear and linked to work or value actually provided.

Can a letting agent still charge a tenancy renewal fee?

No law caps or bans a renewal fee charged to a landlord; only a tenant-charged renewal fee is banned, so a landlord-facing tenancy renewal fee is enforceable unless the clause is unfair under Consumer Rights Act 2015 section 62. In England, agents and landlords cannot charge a tenant to renew because government guidance says, “Since 1 June 2019, agents and landlords have not been able to charge for a renewal of a tenancy under the Act.” The landlord-side position is different: the Tenant Fees Act 2019 bars a landlord from requiring a “relevant person” to make a prohibited payment, not an agent charging its landlord client. The real risk for agents charging landlords for tenancy renewal, especially where a periodic tenancy simply continues after fixed terms were scrapped, is Foxtons: the High Court held an old renewal-commission term unfair where commission continued on renewals, extensions or hold-overs “whether or not negotiated by Foxtons.” Market practice still treats landlord renewal fees as routine, but routine is not the same as enforceable.

Does an agent's commission continue after you end the management agreement?

An agent’s commission can continue after you end the management agreement only if the contract clearly says so and the continuing commission clause survives the Consumer Rights Act 2015 fairness test. The statutory test is direct: “A term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer.” Foxtons is the warning case for landlords wanting to self-manage: the clause charged renewal commission on any extension, renewal, hold-over or further rental period “whether or not negotiated by Foxtons,” and the court found the renewal-commission element unfair. Before ending a management agreement, check the termination clause, the renewal or continuing-commission clause, whether the agent still has any management duties, the stated duration such as up to two years, and whether the wording was prominent when you signed. The CMA guidance also matters, but it may not protect a professional or portfolio landlord where it is clear the landlord client is acting as a business.

Is a notice-period fee enforceable if you terminate early?

A notice-period fee or early termination fee is enforceable only if it is a fair contractual charge, and the CMA’s 2025 enforcement priorities specifically name unfair exit charges as a consumer-protection target. The CMA says it will act on “contract terms that are clearly imbalanced and unfair, including those that impose unfair exit charges on consumers.” That does not make every notice-period fee unlawful: a clause requiring payment for a genuine notice period, continuing management work, handover work or an agreed bargain can be enforceable. The problem is a fee charged merely because the landlord leaves, where the agent does nothing for it. CMA lettings guidance gives that exact example: a term may breach consumer protection law if it “makes him pay a fee when you do nothing in return for it.” In practice, landlords and agents often settle the point commercially; LandlordZone describes a once-and-for-all termination payment at three or six months’ management-fee equivalent, but that is negotiation practice, not a statutory tariff.

What fee should the agent get on a company let or guaranteed-rent deal?

No statute fixes the agent’s fee on a company let or guaranteed-rent deal, so the answer is the fee agreed in the agency terms, adjusted if the contract only priced an ordinary assured tenancy introduction. A company let cannot be an assured tenancy because the Housing Act 1988 requires that “the tenant or, as the case may be, each of the joint tenants is an individual.” That matters because a guaranteed-rent operator taking a house and then subletting rooms as an HMO is often not equivalent to a normal household tenant found for a 12-month AST; the agent may have introduced a commercial counterparty, not a residential occupier. The cleanest structure is to agree in writing whether the agent gets a percentage of the rent the company pays the landlord, a one-off introduction fee, or nothing beyond the original instruction. In the guaranteed-rent market, the provider’s margin is commonly baked into the rent retained: one operator says guaranteed rent is “typically set at 80-90% of market rent.”

What is a change of sharer fee?

A change of sharer fee is a charge for changing who is named on the tenancy, usually because one tenant leaves, another replaces them, and the landlord or agent varies, assigns or novates the agreement. In England, a tenant-facing change of sharer fee is capped at the greater of £50 or the landlord’s reasonable costs; the Tenant Fees Act Schedule 1 uses the formula “the greater of” £50 and reasonable costs. Wales is stricter: the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 does not create the same permitted-payment category for a tenant-requested variation, assignment or novation, and it says, “It is an offence for a landlord to require a prohibited payment to be made to the landlord, or any other person.” The £50 cap therefore should not be copied into Wales. The tenant-facing cap also does not cap what an agent may charge the landlord for the administration: one 2026 London agency fee sheet lists “Change of Sharer £250 (inc VAT).”

Can a landlord or agent charge a late payment fee?

A landlord or letting agent can charge a late rent fee in England only after 14 days and only at 3% above Bank of England base rate on the unpaid rent; Wales allows the same 3% rate after 7 days, Scotland bans late fees, and Northern Ireland has no statutory late-fee figure. For England, the Tenant Fees Act formula applies “an annual percentage rate of 3% above the Bank of England base rate” to rent unpaid at the end of each day. Shelter’s England guidance puts the timing plainly: “You can only be charged a late payment fee when you're 14 days late with rent.” In Wales, the prescribed limit is zero for rent unpaid before the end of seven days, so the charge starts later than the due date but earlier than in England. In Scotland, private residential tenancies import the Rent (Scotland) Act premium ban, so any added administration or service charge for paying late is not permitted. In Northern Ireland, there is no local statute setting a late-fee cap, so any charge turns on the contract and general fairness rules.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Tenant Fees Act 2019 guidance for landlords and agents — “Since 1 June 2019, agents and landlords have not been able to charge for a renewal of a tenancy under the Act.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 s.1(1) — “A landlord must not require a relevant person to make a prohibited payment to the landlord in connection with a tenancy of housing in England.” Source
• Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd [2009] EWHC 1681 (Ch) — “whether or not negotiated by Foxtons.” Source
• Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd [2009] EWHC 1681 (Ch) — “In all those circumstances I find that the renewal commission element of Foxtons’ old terms should be characterised as an unfair term for the purposes of the Regulations.” Source
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.62(4) — “A term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer.” Source
• CMA, Guidance for lettings professionals on consumer protection law — “Although you may be entitled to contract out of these duties in some circumstances and if your landlord client agrees, you will need to ensure that any exclusions would be neither unreasonable under UCTA nor (unless it is clear your landlord client is a business) unfair under the UTCCRs.” Source
• CMA, The CMA’s approach to consumer protection, April 2025 — “contract terms that are clearly imbalanced and unfair, including those that impose unfair exit charges on consumers.” Source
• CMA, Guidance for lettings professionals on consumer protection law — “makes him pay a fee when you do nothing in return for it.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.1 — “the tenant or, as the case may be, each of the joint tenants is an individual” Source
• Elliot Leigh, Guaranteed Rent vs Traditional Letting: Complete Cost Comparison for London Landlords 2026 — “Guaranteed rent is typically set at 80-90% of market rent, depending on property condition, location, and contract length.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 — “But if the amount of the payment exceeds the greater of—” Source
• Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 s.2 — “It is an offence for a landlord to require a prohibited payment to be made to the landlord, or any other person—” Source
• Benham and Reeves landlord fees sheet — “Change of Sharer £250 (inc VAT)” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 — “The amount referred to in sub-paragraph (4) is the aggregate of the amounts found by applying, in relation to each day after the due date for which the rent remains unpaid, an annual percentage rate of 3% above the Bank of England base rate to the amount of rent that remains unpaid at the end of that day.” Source
• Shelter England, Letting agent fees for tenants — “You can only be charged a late payment fee when you're 14 days late with rent.” Source
• Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Prescribed Limits of Default Payments) (Wales) Regulations 2020 — “In the case of a failure to make a payment of rent before the end of the period of seven days beginning with the due date, the prescribed limit is zero.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.20 — “Sections 82, 83 and 86 to 90 of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 apply in relation to a private residential tenancy as they apply in relation to a tenancy of the kind to which those sections refer.” Source
• Landager, Northern Ireland late fees — “Currently, there is no Northern Ireland-specific law that dictates exactly how much a landlord can charge if a tenant is late paying rent.” Source