SEVEN months have passed since the Tenant Fees act came into force, yet already a study has shown its negative impact with agents across the UK set to lose £160m collectively, forcing many to either close their doors, or to quickly adapt their business model in order to stay afloat.

The latter could thankfully now be an option for many thanks to a company’s promise to step up and help. Theyrentanyhome.com has stated they will boost letting agent’s income by replacing the lost tenants’ fees, which currently stand at £191,780,000 this year alone.

How? By using a new, legal approach to help replace the much-needed revenue in the form of a new fee which can benefit agents across the UK. The fee of up to £1,000 is being promised to any letting agent who lets a property to them.

So how does it all work? Well a quick look at the company’s websites shows that they will rent any property from a landlord or via a letting agent and pay the full market rent, sometimes more. Not only that, but they are guaranteeing no voids and no evictions.

So how about the financial side? It’s simple. Any agent who introduces a landlord to the company will be paid up to £1,000 once the landlord has decided to rent their property to them. And, the letting agent can still charge the landlord management fees, which seems a win win for struggling agents.

The company also promises to be the ideal tenant the agents are looking for because just like a tenant, they are renting properties through the UK from letting agents and landlords.

This could be the answer agents have been searching for in order to keep their doors open for business and to help replace the £160m in lost revenue. In fact, in the current declining market, this method is likely to increase their profits thus giving them an unfair advantage over their competitors.

Lately, more and more properties are being rented by similar companies such as Foxtons, Pass the Keys and Hamptons, which in turn is seeing a shift in the supply and demand within the market.

As you can imagine, if a letting agent can earn up to £1,000 more by renting the same property to a company over the average tenant, it makes it very simple for the agent to sidestep the traditional tenant and focus on profits being generated by letting to companies such as these, which creates a new housing supply problem.

So, who will suffer? Ultimately, due to lack of supply, tenants looking for a family home will be getting the short straw, which in turn will push up rental prices across the UK. This will likely be argued by some as being unfair, but the current market is becoming increasingly more difficult for agents, and it’s time for agents to gain back some financial control.