All letting agents across England will have to be registered under new legislation, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said yesterday.
At the moment anyone is able to set up as a letting agent – even if they have just come out of jail after stealing deposits, have no qualifications or any experience of the sector.
After many years of campaigning from within the industry itself, it is not clear why ministers at last have made this decision. This will mean that letting agents would be required to satisfy minimum training requirements and comply with an industry code of conduct.
There has been case after case of agents mis-using tenants’ deposits and failing to pay rent over to landlords, disappearing into the sunset with the public’s money while police have too often said it was a civil matter where they would not prosecute.
There is no detail as to how far exactly the new intended regulation will go, but it looks as though organisations such as ARLA Propertymark, RICS and NALS will have an all-important role to play.
Private landlords are also to face regulation, with Javid announcing that they must all become members of a redress scheme – either in their own right or through a letting agent.
The staff at East Midlands Property Management are very knowledge and experienced in dealing with all areas of the residential rental market. We take a great deal of pride in delivering an excellent service to both our landlords and tenants. East Midland Property Management is a member of ARLA Property mark and the Property Ombudsman.