The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has issued a call to the government to take steps to regulate letting agents because it says not enough is being done to protect landlords (and tenants) from the actions of a corrupt minority.
Why are letting agents not regulated?
It is all too easy for anyone to set up as a letting agent and start taking people’s money. Anyone can open a letting agency on the high street—they don’t need any kind of qualifications and they don’t need to register with an industry body. Unfortunately, this means that some disreputable types are seeing the lettings industry as their own personal cash cow, which has left some landlords out of pocket to the tune of thousands of pounds when the agent has unexpectedly gone out of business.
The report published by the RICS revealed that many letting agents were not fulfilling their obligations: deposits were not correctly registered with the DPS, inventories were not being drawn up, and in the worst of cases, excessive fees were charged and agreements broken. Because of these issues, the RICS says the industry needs to be regulated by the government, which would then help to protect consumers from those who seek to rip them off.
How can landlords avoid being ripped off by a corrupt letting agent?I
If you choose to use a letting agency to manage your property, always make sure you employ one that is a member of a recognised professional body. It won’t guarantee protection, but it should help to minimise the risks involved.
