Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 17A
No. The landlord can’t require you to pay any of the following kinds of fees:
Letting fees – this is a fee charged by a real estate agent or property manager for arranging the tenancy, usually one week’s rent. The landlord has to pay this fee, and can’t pass it on to you the tenant.
Lawyer’s fees – for example, for the costs of drawing up the tenancy agreement
“Key money” – this means a payment to the landlord simply because they’re agreeing to rent the place to you.
Until December 2018, a landlord was allowed to charge you a letting fee or a lawyer’s fee, but not “key money”.
When you first look at a place, you can agree with the landlord that you’ll pay them one week’s rent for an option to rent it – sometimes called an “option fee”. But if you do then decide to rent the place, the landlord has to refund you that money or put it towards the rent – they can’t keep it as a payment on top of the rent.