An investigation by Belfast Live found several letting agents who were still listing fees to tenants for property applications — despite a court ruling finding these are wrongfully charged
It has been eight years since a court decision reinforced legislation that charging certain rental application fees was unlawful in Northern Ireland. But, despite the outcome of Loughran v Piney Rentals Limited delivering some headway against the practice, listing various fees covered in this decision is still prevalent amongst some estate agents across the region.
As previously reported in Belfast Live, the ruling reinforced the Commission on Disposal of Land Order 1986 which was introduced after lobbying by citizens who thought the fees were unfair. This issue has once again been highlighted as Northern Ireland experiences a housing crisis and demand for accommodation remains high.
In 2017, Paul Loughran challenged the fees in court after he experienced charges by two separate letting agents. The judge ordered the return of Mr Loughran’s fees after finding he had been wrongly charged. It was decided that the costs should, instead, be billed to landlords.
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Delivering the ruling, the judge presiding over the case said: “In paying the administration fee, the tenant was contributing in part towards the cost of the services the letting agent had been commissioned by the landlord to do.”
According to tenancy group Renters Voice who ran a mystery shopper exercise on 120 Northern Irish letting agents in 2024: “Following clarification of the law in 2017 in the Loughran case, it is now illegal for letting agents to charge tenants for the work a landlord would do, if they did not use an agent.”
This means in Northern Ireland, letting agents are prohibited from charging tenants for a range of application and administration fees that would be covered by a landlord operating independently, such as for referencing, credit checks, and general tenancy setup.
However, there are still some in the industry who continue to list fees for prospective rentals, with fees appearing on several websites at the time of Belfast Live’s initial inspection.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll characterised the private rental sector in Northern Ireland as an ‘under-regulated Wild West’ during a debate in the Assembly earlier this year. Various legislation has been proposed including Carroll’s People’s Housing Bill which plans to implement broader, stringent rental reforms on the sector.
While the 2017 Loughran ruling clarified that several fees were unlawful under the 1986 order, the lack of direct legislation and limited enforcement seems to have created ongoing confusion in the sector.
Sinn Féin MLA Ciara Ferguson recently welcomed progress on the development of her legislation to ban unfair letting fees, according to the Sinn Féin website.
The Foyle MLA said: “I am delighted to have heard a wide range of views through my consultation calling for a ban on unfair letting fees being charged by landlords and letting agencies.
“If enacted, this legislation will protect already hard-pressed renters from being hit with unexpected charges.”
The current “ban” is based on a court ruling rather than direct legislation, which has created some legal ambiguity and a perceived lack of enforcement. Proposed legislation is aiming to change that and hopes to enforce greater consumer protections, as well as actionable consequences when it comes to tenants being charged certain fees.
Enquiries by Belfast Live found five separate estate agents in Northern Ireland who were still listing fees for tenant hopefuls applying for rent properties at the time of our inspection — on their websites. In a report from August, the Chartered Institute of Housing said housing statistics showed “rising waiting lists” as the region experiences significant housing challenges.
Belfast Live visited the websites of many lettings agents across the region and compiled a list of five we found who had various fees listed online. We then approached the agents directly several times to give them the opportunity to respond to our findings, here is what happened.
Burbridge Ducann Estate Agents, located at 54 Bloomfield Ave, Moat House, Belfast, BT5 5AD, have application fees clearly marked on their website for prospective tenants. The charges are listed as an: “Application Fee £38.00, second applicant £19.00”.
The agency was contacted on several occasions for a right-to-reply but did not respond to Belfast Live’s questions. The fees were still listed on their website at the time of publication.
Property Sales and Lettings NI, located at 4-6 My Ladys Road, Belfast, BT6 8FB had a £30 fee listed for various checks in the online application form section of their website. Belfast Live contacted the agency several times for a right-to-reply but despite receiving email receipts, we did not get a response to any of our inquiries.
The website previously stated: “As part of your application process, we will carry out suitability and affordability checks. A £30 fee covers the cost of these checks. This fee is non-refundable should your application be unsuccessful.”
The website was updated and the fee removed after Belfast Live reached out to the agency. A possible £25 charge to become accredited to a tenancy deposit scheme is still listed online for Property Sales and Lettings NI, under point ten.
Midas Estate Agents in Derry/Londonderry, located at 38 Foyle St, BT48 6AP was another agency that had a fee listed on their website at the time Belfast Live was conducting its inspection.
Belfast Live approached the agency several times and the business did respond.
A spokesman from the Midas Estate Agents said: “I can confirm that Midas Estate Agency (Midas) does not charge tenants an administration fees in respect of new lettings. While we did in the past, this has now ceased.
“I have read with interest the decision of the County Court in Loughran v Piney Rentals Ltd [2017] NICty 2. I note that the decision in Loughran turned on the fact that the obligation to pay an administration fee to the letting agent was contained in the tenancy agreement between the landlord and tenant, and was therefore held to be a stipulation in breach of the Commission on Disposals of Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (the 1986 Order).
“While Midas has previously charged administration fees to tenants upon the letting of properties, this was always done by way of separate agreement between Midas and the tenant, as opposed to a stipulation contained in the letting agreement. Accordingly, we disagree with your implied assertion that Midas has acted in contravention of the 1986 Order and/or the decision in Loughran.
“While Midas no longer charges such administration fees, I would observe that no tenant ever questioned or disputed the lawfulness of such fees.”
Belfast Live went back to the agency to seek clarification on when they ceased charging the administration fee but we did not receive a response to this question.
The agency’s website was updated after the initial approach from Belfast Live.
Quicklet NI, an agency chain with several locations across the region, including Belfast, Lisburn, Lurgan and also a outlet in Edinburgh, Scotland was approached for comment about potential referencing fees.
A spokesman from the agency said that Quicklet does not charge tenants any application fees.
Their website clearly gives tenants an option for the agency to conduct referencing free on their behalf and another choice to use a “premium” service for £30.
The agency’s spokesman said in an email that tenants can provide the documentation themselves which is free of charge or they can use a premium referencing service that will carry out the referencing process on their behalf.
A spokesman said tenants can: “Provide their documentation themselves, this option is free of charge or use a premium referencing service. This service carries out the referencing process on their behalf, saving time and effort.
“The Premium service is Homelet. As previously stated this is an optional service, there is always the option to provide documentation direct to the agent dealing with the property application free of charge.”
The website remained unchanged at the time of publication.
John Minnis estate agents, who have branches in Belfast, Bangor, Donaghadee, Comber and Holywood also had an option for a £45 referencing fee listed on their website — alongside a free choice — when Belfast Live conducted our initial inspection.
A spokesperson from the company said they had not been aware of the referencing fees listed on their website.
They said: “We immediately updated our website once this was brought to our attention, as we have no wish for any outdated or misleading information to appear. We have not referred references to HomeLet for several years. Every tenant applying for a property through us has, for some time now, been asked to provide their own documentation.
“Any fee charged at the time was passed directly to HomeLet — there was never any commission or financial return to John Minnis Estate Agents.
“Following your email, we contacted HomeLet as we were unable to locate our last invoice and wanted to verify historic details. Unfortunately, they have since changed their internal systems and could not provide this information.
“Our current referencing process is straightforward, once a prospective tenant has viewed a property and wishes to apply, they complete our online application form and provide their own supporting materials. [These include] such [items] as a credit score, bank statements, payslips and if applicable a landlord reference.”
The website was updated to remove the previously listed fee.
A spokesman from Housing Rights, a charity that provides support and advice for people with housing problems, believes it is unreasonable for agents to advertise unlawful fees on their websites.
They said: “We suspect that fees are being advertised so blatantly because there is a shortage of private rented properties and demand is high. Research from PropertyPal.com states there are, ‘an average of 73 enquiries for each advertised rental property’ on their website. Some agents are taking advantage of desperate renters.
“They know applicants will pay illegal fees because they don’t want their application to be discarded amid fierce competition. They also know that applicants won’t take the time to claim the money back via the small claims court. We have the least regulated lettings sector in the United Kingdom. Robust legislation is needed to regulate agents and eliminate illegal letting fees.
“Letting agents should be required by law to be transparent about their fee arrangements and charges. This should be clearly displayed in all information and communications regarding a prospective tenancy and on organisational websites or other information services. Tenants should also not be required to use third-party services for services, including, but not limited to, credit and reference checks.”
Renters are encouraged to speak to Housing Rights if they have any queries about fees listed by any letting agents in Northern Ireland. Housing Rights are an independent charity who are able to provide advice to tenants, as well as address housing problems across the region.
Have you been charged any unlawful fees by agents in Northern Ireland in 2025? Contact Rob.Currell@reachplc.com
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