OpenRent has never allowed landlords to charge tenant admin fees. From June 1st 2019, this became the law in England, following similar laws in Scotland, with Wales following shortly after.
For a bit of history on the historic change to tenants fees in the UK, please see our blog post here:
🎉 Fee Freedom Day: 1st June 2019 🎉
An Admin fee is defined as a one-off fee for viewing the property, applying for the property, or setting up the tenancy. This does not include bills, council tax, rent or deposits - of course you are welcome to include the cost of any administrative fees associated with a new tenancy in the monthly rent.
We understand there is more work beyond our £69 fee, namely conducting the viewings. However, this, and anything else considered a reasonable fee (gas certificates, electrical certificates, inventory fee, contract signing fee, check-in fee, check-out fee, etc...) are, in effect, one off costs which can be included in the rental amount.
The landlord is in full control of how much rent to charge, and the rent should incorporate the costs of setting up the tenancy.