The short answer
An enforcement agent may charge only the fees in the statutory table, and only for stages actually reached. The fees are added to the debt at each stage reached.
There are two tables. Which one applies depends on how the enforcement power arises, not on who the agent is.
- ✓Table 1 covers enforcement other than under a High Court writ. This is the one CRAR runs on, and it covers most commercial rent recovery.
- ✓Table 2 covers enforcement under a High Court writ of control, after a judgment has been transferred up. It has four stages rather than three, and a lower threshold.
Authority: Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014, Schedule 1, as substituted on 1 May 2026 by the Taking Control of Goods (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026. The figures on this page are taken from the revised, in force text on legislation.gov.uk and were last checked on 11 September 2026.
Work out the fees on your own figure
Enter the amount outstanding. The calculator applies the statutory table exactly, including the rounding rule in regulation 7(c) that most published figures get wrong.
Pounds and pence. The rent owed, not including our fees.
| Stage | Fixed | Percentage | Owed by the tenant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance stage | £79.00 | £0.00 | £79.00 |
| Enforcement stage | £247.00 | £495.00 | £821.00 |
| Sale or disposal stage | £116.00 | £495.00 | £1,432.00 |
The last column is cumulative: it is the total fee position if matters stop at that stage. Most cases stop at the first line.
Table 1, in full
Enforcement other than under a High Court writ. The percentage applies to the part of the sum to be recovered that exceeds £1,900.
| Stage | Fixed fee | Percentage fee |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance From receipt of instructions until the first attendance | £79 | 0% |
| Enforcement From the first attendance at the premises | £247 | 7.5% |
| Sale or disposal From preparing the goods for sale until the proceeds are applied | £116 | 7.5% |
Table 2, in full
Enforcement under a High Court writ of control. Four stages, and the percentage applies above £1,200. Note that the second enforcement stage carries a substantial fixed fee and no percentage at all. That is what the table says; it is not an omission.
| Stage | Fixed fee | Percentage fee |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | £79 | 0% |
| First enforcement | £200 | 7.5% |
| Second enforcement | £520 | 0% |
| Sale or disposal | £550 | 7.5% |
The second enforcement stage is not automatic. Where no contact was made at the first attendance, the agent may not move to it until the debtor has been given a further opportunity to pay in full, agree a repayment arrangement, or sign a controlled goods agreement. If the debtor takes that opportunity and keeps to it, only the first enforcement fee is recoverable.
How the percentage fee is worked out
Three rules, and each one is a place where published figures go wrong.
It applies only above the threshold. On £1,900 of CRAR arrears the percentage fee is nil. On £1,900.01 it is not.
It is calculated on the debt, not on the debt plus fees. The "sum to be recovered" is the amount of the debt that remains unpaid. Fees are never added to the base before the next percentage is worked out, so enforcement fees do not compound.
It rounds up to a whole pound. Regulation 7(c) says that in the total fee calculated, any fraction of £1 is reckoned as £1. Not to the nearest pound, and not to the penny: upwards, always. 7.5% of £6,600 is exactly £495, so nothing moves. 7.5% of £6,613 is £495.975, which becomes £496. A calculation that rounds to the nearest penny is wrong on most cases above the threshold.
| Amount outstanding | Excess over £1,900 | Percentage fee |
|---|---|---|
| £1,900.00 | nil | £0 |
| £1,900.01 | 1p | £1 |
| £1,901.00 | £1 | £1 |
| £1,914.00 | £14 | £2 |
Regulation 7(c) reads: "in the total amount of the fee so calculated, any fraction of £1 is to be reckoned as £1, but any fraction of a penny is to be disregarded." The two halves of that sentence pull against each other, since a fee already rounded up to a whole pound cannot also carry a fraction of a penny. The reading applied above is the one the industry uses and the one that cannot undercharge, but it is worth a solicitor's eye if a case ever turns on it.
A worked example
A tenant is £8,500 down in rent, and no part of that is service charge, so the whole of it is recoverable under CRAR.
If the tenant pays on receiving the Notice of Enforcement, the only fee is the compliance fee of £79. The tenant pays £8,579 and the matter ends. This is what happens in most cases, and it is the reason the notice stage exists.
If an agent has to attend, the enforcement fee is £247 plus 7.5% of £6,600, which is £495. That stage costs £742. Added to the compliance fee, the tenant now owes £8,500 plus £821 in fees.
If goods have to be removed and sold, the sale stage adds £116 plus a further £495. Total fees £1,432.
The same arrears enforced under a High Court writ would run £79, then £748, then £520, then £1,098: £2,445 in total if it went the whole way. High Court enforcement is more expensive because the second enforcement stage carries a £520 fixed fee and the sale stage fixed fee is £550 rather than £116.
When each fee attaches
The compliance stage begins when the agent receives instructions, and runs up to the first attendance at the premises. That matters more than it looks: the compliance fee is earned at the point of instruction, not at the point the notice is posted.
The enforcement stage begins at the first attendance. The sale stage begins when goods are first moved towards the place of sale, or when preparation for sale on the premises begins.
If the debtor pays after a stage has started but before it has finished, the whole fee for that stage is still recoverable. Paying the agent at the door does not produce a part fee.
VAT: the rule that is usually stated backwards
The fees in the table are exclusive of VAT, and whether VAT reaches the debtor at all depends on the creditor, not on the agent.
Where the creditor is VAT-registered, which most commercial landlords are, the enforcement agent may not recover VAT, or any sum equivalent to VAT, from the debtor. The landlord accounts for it in the ordinary way and recovers it as input tax. The tenant pays the figures in the table and nothing more.
Where the creditor is not VAT-registered, the agent may recover from the debtor a sum equivalent to the VAT the creditor is liable to pay.
So the VAT position on a commercial rent case usually falls on the landlord's own registration, and a demand that adds VAT to enforcement fees for a VAT-registered landlord is asking for something the Regulations do not permit.
Regulation 18, inserted on 9 December 2021 by the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.
What else can be charged
Beyond the table, only a short and closed list of disbursements, and only where reasonably and actually incurred:
- storing goods that have been taken into control and removed from the premises;
- a locksmith, where reasonable force is used to enter premises and to secure them afterwards;
- court fees on applications the agent makes, where the application is granted.
On a sale there is more. Where an auction is held at the auctioneer's premises, commission of up to 15% of the sum realised is recoverable, plus the auctioneer's out of pocket expenses and reasonable advertising. Where the sale is held elsewhere, the commission cap drops to 7.5%. Where goods are sold through an internet auction site or by private sale, a fee of 7.5% of the sum realised is recoverable in addition to the table.
Anything outside that list is an "exceptional disbursement", and it needs a court order made on the agent's application with the creditor's consent. The court will not make one unless the expense is necessary for effective enforcement.
Regulations 8, 9 and 10.
More than one debt against the same tenant
A landlord with several units let to the same tenant, or a debt under more than one enforcement power, gets a rule of its own. Where the powers can reasonably be exercised at the same time:
- the compliance fee is charged once per enforcement power, so several £79 fees;
- the enforcement and sale fixed fees are charged only once in total, however many powers there are;
- the percentage is calculated on the combined total of all the sums to be recovered.
That usually works out considerably cheaper for the tenant than running the matters separately, and the agent is obliged to deal with the goods together and on as few occasions as possible to keep disbursements down.
Regulation 11.
When fees cannot be recovered at all
No fee is recoverable for any stage carried out at a time when the enforcement power had already ceased to be exercisable. If the power has gone, so has the fee.
There is a rule specific to CRAR. Where the court makes an order under section 78(1)(a) of the 2007 Act, the agent may recover no fees or disbursements from the tenant. Where the order is under section 78(1)(b), fees are recoverable only if the court makes a further order permitting further steps under CRAR.
Separately, where a debtor is a vulnerable person, the enforcement stage fee and the disbursements tied to that stage are not recoverable unless, before removing goods, the agent gave the debtor an adequate opportunity to get assistance and advice.
Regulations 12 and 17.
What changed on 1 May 2026
The fixed fees went up by roughly 5% and both thresholds rose. For most landlords the net effect on the enforcement stage is a small reduction, because the CRAR threshold rose by £400 while the fixed fee rose by £12. On arrears of £5,000 the enforcement stage now costs the tenant £480 where it used to cost £498.
| Stage | To 30 April 2026 | From 1 May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance | £75 | £79 |
| Enforcement | £235 + 7.5% | £247 + 7.5% |
| Sale or disposal | £110 + 7.5% | £116 + 7.5% |
| Percentage threshold | £1,500 | £1,900 |
The notice period changed at the same time, from seven clear days to fourteen. That is the change most likely to catch a landlord out, and it is covered in full in our guide to CRAR.
This page states the fee scale in England and Wales as it stands on 11 September 2026. It is not legal advice. If you would like the exact figures on a particular set of arrears, send us the details and we will set them out for you.