The NLA has issued a reminder to all landlords involved in sale and rent-back practices that their window of opportunity to register with the FSA is fast running out.
In a timely warning the National Landlord Association have told landlords they must move fast to make sure they are operating in legal manner. The new regulation will pull this previously under-regulated group into line to ensure that all customers are getting a fair deal. Once sale and rent-back becomes a regulated activity, people who use this system will have to prove that they are a fit person to be involved in the business.
Other things will be regulated as well, such as making sure that an agreement that is realistic and fair has been reached regarding how long the owner-cum-tenant may stay in the property. Claims of people being able to stay in their homes for life have been proven to often be wildly exaggerated and have created false expectations in the people entering into the sale and rent-back agreement.
Regulation should bring this form of landlord activity into line and, as I have expressed on this blog before, used properly, this sale and rent back type scheme could be a winner for all concerned. It is good to see the FSA acting quite promptly to drive the rogues out of this area and ensure that things will now be much fairer.
