A leading Lincoln based letting agent who has consistently warned that tenants and landlords are continuing to be exploited by unscrupulous agents in the 'exploding' rental market has now had her findings backed in a major new report 'Renting in the Dark' published today.

Jill Elkington of Hodgson Elkington LLP backs The Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank that is  urgently calling on the Government to regulate letting agents to the same standards as estate agents.

The report's call is backed by the Ombudsman.

"The report says that tenants are having to pay significant upfront costs, whilst agents' fees are variable and there is a lack of transparency around charges, which is something that I have been highlighting for some time. I very much welcome this report," said Jill Elkington, letting manager at Hodgson Elkington, chartered surveyors and East Midlands spokesperson for ARLA, (Association of Rental Letting Agents).

The Resolution Organisation carried out a mystery shopping exercise of 25 unnamed letting agents in three cities - London, Cheltenham and Manchester. It found the range and type of fees charged varied enormously.

"Whilst the agents approached were not in the East Midlands, it is not unreasonable to assume this practice occurs here in the East Midlands and other parts of the country. Just two of the letting agents terms were transparent and many renters only discovered charges after they had decided to rent a property," said Jill Elkington.

Resolution says its findings are particularly relevant given the growing number of households forced into renting for the long term. In 1988 only 14% of low to middle income households aged under 35 were living in rented accommodation, but by 2008 it had tripled to 41%.

The report points out that unlike estate agents, letting agents are unregulated and under no compulsion to hold membership of an ombudsman service.

The Resolution Foundation is calling for:

• Letting agents to be regulated to the same level as estate agents, so that unscrupulous agents can be banned;

• All agents to be signed up to an ombudsman service giving redress to tenants;

• The ombudsmen's codes of practice to stipulate that agents must display all charges to tenants and landlords on their website and in adverts in a way that is easily comparable across agents;

• The Government to consider ways to make it easier for tenants to transfer deposits between landlords when they re-tender for the tenancy deposit protection schemes in 2012.

"The lack of regulation in the exploding private rented market is of growing concern. We need more transparency so tenants at least know what fees they're facing and to help create a more competitive market. Given that an increasing number of families have no option other than to rent long term, we need to question why letting agents are not regulated to the same degree as estate agents."

Christopher Hamer, The Property Ombudsman has also given his backing to the report.

"The Government does not see regulation of the sector as a priority so I hope the recommendation of this report that all letting agents should be required to be registered with an ombudsman scheme so that, at least, landlords or tenants can gain redress where they have been disadvantaged by an agent, will now be seriously considered by the Government," said Jill Elkington.

"Providing clarity and transparency of fees is also very important. As more and more people become tenants or landlords, these measures would assist them in fully understanding the commitments they are taking on and enable them to challenge the agent if anything is unclear," she added.

"It's vital that consumers have full confidence in lettings agents, and the industry must respond to their concerns. That's why in the absence of regulation, ARLA developed their own licensing scheme," said Jill Elkington.

All licensed ARLA member letting agents must be covered by a client money protection scheme and hold professional indemnity insurance - which means consumers are protected against negligence. They must follow strict codes of conduct and have a certain level of training. Ultimately this means that, should something go wrong, there are protection mechanisms in place. I would therefore always advise that consumers use an ARLA-licensed lettings agent.

Whilst fees are bound to vary from region to region and will depend on the specific services offered, for landlords and tenants alike it is important to obtain clear, written information about exactly which services the fee includes - and whether there are likely to be any further costs in the future.

Should a landlord or tenant feel the fees were unclear, they can lodge a complaint with ARLA or utilise the Ombudsman Scheme membership, which all ARLA licensed agents are required to hold.

"The full report 'Renting in the Dark' makes very interesting reading. Without regulation, we will see more and more unscrupulous agents making promises they are not able or intend to keep. Worse, the ones who suffer are the landlords who entrust them with their investment and tenants who stand to lose the roof over their heads," said Jill Elkington.