Every tenant signing for a house or flat with PJ Properties, City Accommodation and Home are paying a new £50 fee, while Broomhill Property Shop is charging £30.

The agencies say they have been forced to introduce the fee after facing rising costs caused by government legislation introduced in April.

Landlords must now protect every deposit in one of three government-approved Tenancy Deposit Protection schemes.

If landlords do not protect deposits they can be forced to repay three times the deposit amount.

PJ, Home and City are all using the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), which is free to set up and operate.

Broomhill Property is using the Tenancy Deposit Solution (TDSL), which carries a fee paid for by the landlord.

MAF Properties is one company that has not introduced an admin fee this year.

Jasmin Actor, an agent at MAF, thinks in some cases a fee is justified but says this new administration fee is unwarranted: "It is unfair for them to charge as it is just part of the job," she said.

Agencies cannot legally charge tenants directly for the deposit protection schemes.

The agencies say the running costs associated with the scheme is why students are being charged a fee this year.

They say their workload has significantly increased and the money is merely being used to cover the cost.

Sam Badger at the Property Shop says this increased workload is why they have introduced the fee: "This is the first year we have started charging £30 as there is so much chasing around to do. We want to be good landlords, we try to keep everybody happy and we do not want to rip people off."

Pete Gannon from City Accommodation said: "All new contracts have had to be registered with a deposit scheme.

"Within 10 days of receiving deposit cheques we have to bank the cheque, register it and send the cheque to them (DPS).

"We have to do all the administration work which costs us a lot of money, so we are passing some of the cost onto the tenant."

He also said the fee has been introduced because landlords cannot earn interest on students' deposits - if they use the DPS scheme - so the fee helps recoup some of the loss.

PJ said they now have to do extra admin and a lot more paperwork but refused to comment further.

Home Accommodation declined to comment when approached by the Sheffield Steel Press.

The DPS say their system is 'easy to use', 'quick' and 'straightforward', so easy in fact the landlord can submit deposits 'in minutes.'

It is also totally free to use with no membership or application fees or per-tenant charges for protecting deposits.

Sarah Woods, Housing Welfare Advisor at the Student Advice Centre, says students should try and avoid agencies who charge an admin fee.

"There's lots of accommodation," she said. "Do not be pressured into signing for a house as there is a surplus of housing this year.
"There should have been downward pressure on rent, but in some cases rent has gone up four or five pounds.

"There is no need to pay high rent and charges."
For further advice she advised students to get the Housing Checklist which is available online or go to the Student Advice Centre, located in the Union.

This article was contributed by the Steel Press. For more stories by the University of Sheffield paper visit: http://shefsteel.com/