Tenant Fees Act prohibited payments: the tenant reclaim and enforcement walkthrough (2026)

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 was a quiet revolution. Before June 2019, the average renter in England paid hundreds of pounds in fees on top of rent and deposit — referencing fees, admin fees, inventory fees on the way in, check-out fees on the way out, and a renewal fee every time the fixed term rolled. The 2019 Act banned almost all of them. Most agencies updated their paperwork within a quarter. A surprising number of smaller landlords and a stubborn tail of agents did not, and seven years on those fees are still being charged.

If you paid one — at any point since 1 June 2019, on any tenancy that started or renewed after that date — you are very likely entitled to get it back. The reclaim route is straightforward. The enforcement teeth are sharper than most renters realise. And the Renters' Rights Act 2025, in force since 1 May 2026, has tightened the regime around it: the rent-bidding ban now blocks one common workaround, and the holding deposit rules have been clarified so the loopholes a few agents leaned on are closed.

This walkthrough is for a renter who suspects they have paid a prohibited fee and wants to know what to do about it. It covers what counts as a prohibited payment, what does not, the 14-day landlord-letter route, the First-tier Tribunal application, the council Trading Standards report, and how all three interact. There is a templated demand letter at the end of the procedural section.

What the law actually says

The Tenant Fees Act 2019 applies to assured shorthold tenancies, licences to occupy, and student lets in England. It does not apply to social housing or to long leases. It prohibits a landlord or letting agent from requiring a tenant to make any payment in connection with a tenancy, other than payments in a closed list of permitted categories.

The permitted categories are:

• Rent. Charged at the contractual rate, and not weighted (so a landlord cannot charge GBP 1,000 in month one and GBP 100 thereafter to disguise an upfront fee).
• A refundable tenancy deposit, capped at 5 weeks' rent where the annual rent is under GBP 50,000, or 6 weeks' rent where it is GBP 50,000 or more.
• A refundable holding deposit, capped at 1 week's rent, returnable within strict timelines (covered in our earlier walkthrough on the 7-day return rule).
• Payments associated with the early termination of a tenancy at the tenant's request, limited to the actual loss to the landlord.
• Payments for utilities, communication services, TV licence, and council tax, where the tenancy makes the tenant responsible.
• Payments for default, in tightly defined and evidenced cases — for example a lost key or late rent interest, both capped and subject to the rule that the charge cannot exceed the landlord's reasonable costs.
• Payments to vary, assign or novate a tenancy at the tenant's request, capped at GBP 50 or the landlord's reasonable costs if higher and evidenced.

Anything outside those categories is a prohibited payment. The landlord or agent who charged it has committed a breach. The tenant can recover the sum, and the landlord faces enforcement action.

What counts as a prohibited payment

The fees most commonly still being charged in 2026, almost all unlawfully:

Admin fees on grant of a tenancy. Sometimes labelled "tenancy preparation fee", "set-up fee", "contract fee", or just "admin". Always prohibited.

Reference fees. Whether charged for credit checks, employment references, or right-to-rent checks. Always prohibited.

Inventory fees. Both check-in and check-out. Always prohibited.

Renewal fees. Charged when the fixed term ends and a new fixed term or periodic tenancy begins. Always prohibited.

Guarantor fees. Charged to the tenant or to the guarantor for processing a guarantor agreement. Prohibited.

"Professional cleaning" required at the end of a tenancy at a level higher than ordinary cleanliness. The landlord can deduct from the deposit for cleaning beyond fair wear and tear, but a mandatory pre-set "professional clean" fee is treated as a prohibited payment.

Charges to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement, the inventory, or the deposit certificate. All prohibited.

A "moving in" or "check-in attendance" fee charged to the tenant. Prohibited.

The default-payment category is narrowly drawn and routinely overreached. Charges of GBP 50 for "late rent" when the rent is one day late, or flat fees for sending a chase letter, are not lawful default payments — they have to be evidenced as the landlord's actual cost.

The three routes to reclaim

There are three routes, and they work together rather than against each other. Use them in this order unless the case is unusually serious.

Route 1 — the landlord letter

Write to the landlord or agent setting out the prohibited payment, asking for it back within 14 days. This is not just a courtesy. The Act and the relevant statutory guidance assume the parties will try to resolve matters first, and a tribunal or council will look more favourably on a tenant who gave the landlord a clean chance to refund.

Template letter: demand for repayment of prohibited payment

Dear [Landlord / Agent name],

Re: [Property address] — request for repayment of prohibited payment(s)

I am writing in connection with payment(s) I made to you in respect of the above tenancy which I consider to be prohibited payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

The payment(s) in question:

1. £[amount] paid on [date] described by you as "[description, e.g. admin fee]". A copy of the receipt / bank record is attached.
2. £[amount] paid on [date] described by you as "[description]". A copy of the receipt / bank record is attached.

Total claimed: £[total].

Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, only the categories of payment listed in Schedule 1 are permitted. The payments above do not fall within any permitted category, and are therefore prohibited. They are recoverable in full.

Please refund the total amount of £[total] to me within 14 days of the date of this letter. If you believe any of the payments are not prohibited, please set out the basis on which you say so, with reference to Schedule 1.

If I do not receive the refund within 14 days, I will apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a recovery order and will report the matter to [council name] Trading Standards. Both bodies have the power to impose civil penalties on the landlord or agent in addition to ordering repayment.

Yours, [Name, date]

Send by email and by post to a recorded delivery address. Keep the proof of posting and any reply.

Route 2 — First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber)

If the landlord does not refund within the 14-day window, apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring repayment. The application form is available on the Tribunal's website. The fee is GBP 100, with fee remission available for tenants on low income or certain benefits.

The Tribunal is informal compared with a court. Hearings are typically conducted in writing or by short remote hearing, and the tenant does not need legal representation. Bring:

• The tenancy agreement.
• Evidence of every prohibited payment (receipts, bank statements, agent invoices, email confirmations).
• A copy of the demand letter and any reply.
• A short witness statement explaining the chronology.

The Tribunal can order repayment of the prohibited payment plus interest. It can also order the landlord to pay the tenant's application fee.

Route 3 — council Trading Standards

Report the landlord or agent to Trading Standards at the local council for the property address. Reporting and reclaiming run in parallel — the council deals with enforcement, the tribunal deals with recovery.

A first breach can attract a civil penalty of up to GBP 5,000. A second or further breach within five years can be treated as a criminal offence or attract a civil penalty of up to GBP 30,000. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 added the property portal, which means a penalty against a landlord is now recorded centrally and accessible across council teams. That makes the GBP 30,000 tier more reachable for tenants who report, because Trading Standards can see prior offending more easily.

The council reporting route also helps other tenants. A landlord who has charged a prohibited fee once has almost certainly charged it many times.

Edge cases worth knowing

The fee was paid to an agent, not the landlord. It does not matter. The Act applies to both. The tenant chooses who to pursue, and in practice it is whichever party is easier to reach.

The fee was paid before 1 June 2019. Pre-Act fees are not recoverable under the Act, but they may be recoverable on common-law unjust-enrichment grounds in exceptional cases. In practice, fees from 2019 onwards are the realistic universe.

The tenancy has ended. That does not bar recovery. The right to reclaim survives the end of the tenancy.

The landlord is now overseas or in liquidation. The agent, if there was one, is still on the hook. So is anyone who holds the prohibited payment.

The amount feels small. A "small" prohibited payment is still worth claiming. Most renters who reclaim find they paid more than one, and the running total often reaches several hundred pounds.

The landlord refunds and asks you to keep it quiet. That is fine for the refund, but a council report still serves the wider public-interest purpose. Many tenants choose to take the refund and report anyway.

What the Tribunal and the council typically do

Tribunals deal with TFA cases regularly. The procedure is light-touch and decisions are usually given on paper or after a short hearing. A typical outcome where the documents are clean:

• The Tribunal orders repayment of the full prohibited payment, plus the application fee.
• The order is enforceable through the County Court if the landlord does not pay.
• The decision is published in anonymised form, contributing to the wider evidence base.

Council Trading Standards teams are stretched and selective. They typically prioritise:

• Repeat offenders, especially those already on the property portal.
• High-value or aggregate cases (many tenants charged the same fee).
• Cases with strong documentary evidence.
• Cases referred alongside other rent-related issues (deposit not protected, unsafe property, unlicensed HMO).

A council penalty does not refund the tenant directly, but it is often the trigger that gets the refund paid without further tribunal action.

How the Renters' Rights Act reinforces all this

Three RRA changes interact with the Tenant Fees Act regime:

Rent-bidding ban. Landlords and agents can no longer accept rent offers above the advertised amount. This closes a workaround where some agents recouped lost fee income by pushing rents up after viewing-stage bidding.

Holding deposit rules. The 7-day return rule is now explicit, and the categories under which a holding deposit can be retained are tightened. (See our holding deposit walkthrough.)

Property portal. Penalties under the Tenant Fees Act are now recorded on a national portal alongside other landlord obligations. A landlord with one TFA penalty is visibly higher-risk to enforcement teams when the next complaint comes in.

The overall effect is that the original 2019 ban has shifted from "good law, patchy enforcement" to "good law, increasingly enforced".

When to use RentSOS

RentSOS focuses on Section 13 rent increase challenges, not Tenant Fees Act recovery, but the two often overlap. A landlord who is still charging prohibited fees in 2026 is the same landlord who is more likely to be serving a defective rent increase notice. If you have received a Section 13 in addition to questionable fees, the free RentSOS check will tell you whether the increase itself has grounds to challenge — and the market-rent data in the pack often surfaces the wider pattern of landlord conduct that strengthens any TFA reclaim.

A calmer last word

A prohibited fee is not a moral judgement on the landlord — many of them are inherited paperwork, charged out of habit by a long-serving agent, never updated. The law is the law all the same. Asking for a refund is a reasonable thing to do, the process is designed to be light-touch, and the chances of getting the money back are real. Write the letter first. If that does not work, the tribunal is a calm room, not a court, and Trading Standards is on your side. None of it is guaranteed, but the path is well-trodden and the wind is at your back.