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ARLA demands an end to unregulated Letting agents
- January 2009
________________________________ Other
ARLA Press Releases on this site ________________________________ ARLA
PRESS RELEASE: ARLA Response to TDS and Unregulated Agents
January 2009 Lettings
agents should be required to take a professional qualification before they are
allowed to set up shop in the High Street, according to the Association of Residential
Lettings Agents.(ARLA) Ian
Potter, Operations Manager of the ARLA, said that the time had come to raise awareness
about unregulated lettings agents – many of whom have had no formal training and
may be completely unqualified. They are also immune from any form of disciplinary
action for misconduct He
said: “The fact that at the moment anybody can work as a lettings agent is ludicrous
and, more to the point, dangerous as it may create great risks for consumers in
the current climate. “We
need to ensure the standards of the lettings profession are upheld without exception
– this means compulsory training and qualifications for anyone wishing to let
a property on behalf of another, as well as Client Money Protection, Professional
Indemnity Insurance, and audited client bank accounts. Many agents hold client’s
funds mixed in with their own business funds and this offers no protection if
the agents business fails.
The announcement comes as the Tenancy Deposit Protection Service declared that
it would no longer guarantee the deposits of unregulated lettings agents.
Ian continued: “It’s high time the Government got off the fence and demanded regulation
for the rental market and the compulsory licensing of agents. Setting professional
standards for the industry is the first step to eliminating the cowboys.” ARLA
plans to introduce its own licensing scheme for letting agents later this year,
which its members will be obliged to join. . ARLA
is the Lettings and Residential Management Division of
the Federation of Property Professionals. Source
ARLA
________________________________ Tenancy
Deposit Protection Withdrawn From Unregulated Letting Agents At
the insistence of their insurers, The Tenancy
Deposit Scheme will only provide deposit protection and alternative dispute
resolution to letting agents who are members of recognised professional bodies.
From April 6, only regulated letting agents and corporate and individual landlords
will be covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and cover will be withdrawn from
unregulated agents. Tenants are advised to ensure their landlords have made alternative
arrangements to safeguard deposits as soon as possible.
The Scheme advises landlords and tenants to be certain that their lettings agents
are members of either the Association
of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), The
National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS), the
National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), or the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors (RICS); or that deposits are protected under one of the other
government authorised deposit protection schemes: Tenancy Deposit Solutions (trading
as mydeposits.com) or The Deposit Protection Service. The
Tenancy Deposit Scheme is writing to all current tenants whose tenancy is shown
to have been arranged through an unregulated agent to advise them of the change
in protection that can be offered and the course of action to take to ensure protection
as the law requires. The agents concerned should advise their tenants and landlords
of what they intend to do on their behalf. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme regrets
the action it has been forced to take, but points out that it is due to circumstances
that are well beyond its control January
2009
See also
Housing
Minister Grant Shapps promises 'no more red tape' for private landlords - June
2010 ARLA
has appointed Sue Hughes-Thomas as president - June 2010 ARLA
launches buy-to-let mortgage comparison site - March 2010
Response
to FSA Paper on Mortgage Lending - October 2009 Response
to statistics from NLA on rental arrear-October 2009 Demand
in rental market returns for the first time since recession began - 28 September
2009 Review
of ARLA Agreement Magazine on Insurance - August 2009 Property
Woman of the Year ARLA sponsors young property woman award at the NLA Property
Women Awards 2009 - May 2009 ARLA
welcomes the Government’s “historic shift in thinking” on the private rented sector
towards improved industry standards - May 2009 ARLA
launches new licensing scheme to protect consumer interests - Consumer interests
safeguarded by letting agent licensing - May 2009 ARLA
- Research Reveals Britain’s Reluctant Landlords - April 2009 ARLA
Welcomes Rugg Review on the Private Rented Sector - 24 October 2008 ARLA’s
Response to the Law Commission Report - August 2008 and
The
Law CommissionHousing: Encouraging Responsible Letting Professional
Property Organisations Tenancy
Deposit Scheme (TDS) UK mydeposits
will stick by all letting agentt- January 2009 Back
to Property Articles Back
to Property Information ________________________________
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jml
are members of the National
Landlords Association (NLA) in the UK
and Riviera
Business Club (RBC) in the Côte d'Azur France
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