Reference fee, admin fee, renewal fee, "check-out fee": in England, almost all of them have been banned since 2019. If an agent or landlord charged you one, that's your money, and the law calls it a prohibited payment.
The permitted list is short: rent, a capped refundable deposit, a capped holding deposit, and a few narrow charges like a capped fee for late rent or replacing a lost key at cost. Everything else is banned.
"A landlord must not require a relevant person to make a prohibited payment to the landlord in connection with a tenancy of housing in England. (2)A landlord must not require a relevant person to make a prohibited payment to a third party in connection with a tenancy of housing in England."
A prohibited payment is recoverable: demand it back in writing. Enforcement sits with trading standards, who can fine agents £5,000 and up, and unreturned prohibited payments can block eviction notices too. The leverage is all yours.
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Check where I stand, free →This guide covers England. Wales has its own fees ban with different details; Scotland banned fees earlier and more broadly. This is guidance to help you understand your rights, not formal legal advice, and we're entirely independent: no affiliation with Citizens Advice, GOV.UK or any law firm. Every quotation above links to the official text so you can check us. Law verified current at July 2026.