How One London Borough Plans to Keep Rental Agent Fees Low

When you’re searching for an apartment to rent in an expensive big city nowadays, sky-high rents aren’t the only headache you have to contend with. Leasing agents, those gatekeepers to every spare apartment, can all too often prove a nightmare as well, charging large fees for basic transactions and offering little in the way of service in return. In a new challenge to these agencies’ dominance of the market, a London borough is stepping into the fray with an interesting plan. They’re setting up a letting agency of their own.

Launched by the north London borough of Haringey, Move 51°North will function much like any other agent. There will still be one key difference—it will be a whole lot cheaper. As a report from the UK’s Citizens Advice Bureau last year discovered, Britain’s letting agencies are currently a bit of a rip-off. A simple transaction such as renewing an existing tenancy or having your references checked can cost £300 ($431). Some agencies even charged a similar amount for a credit check, even though the only work they did was forwarding details to a credit check company, who charged them £25 ($36) for the service. In some parts of London, agents’ fees for finding a new apartment to rent can be as high as £792 ($1139).