Voluntary Licensing for Letting Agents to be Introduced Shortly

The need to introduce a registration scheme for letting agents has emerged last week as the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has come up with a plan of a voluntary licensing system and as the housing minister for mandatory regulation, Margaret Beckett, has proposed a similar idea. Both proposals coincided with the Government’s plans on introducing a registration scheme for private buy to let landlords. When making its proposal, ARLA claimed that hundreds of thousands of pounds, paid by honest consumers, are lost annually to illegal, unprofessional and unethical letting agents. ARLA’s survey revealed that 95% of letting agencies’ consumers believe that all letting agents have to be licensed and regret that there is no corresponding legislation in place. MPs at the House of Commons gave their backing to ARLA’s scheme this week: they have signed a register that supports the creation of high standards for UK letting agents. UK Housing Minister, Iain Wright, claimed that despite the fact that many letting agencies in the UK operate with great professionalism, there are some that follow unethical practices and that is why they need to be redressed. ARLA’s new licensing scheme is aimed exactly at what should be done: promoting greater professionalism among letting agents and increasing confidence among consumers. Peter Bolton King, ARLA Chief Executive, believes that from now on, consumers will know that ARLA-approved letting agents are able to provide the best possible service and advice. Ruth Lilley, ARLA Head of Membership and Professional Development, mentioned that the organization has been lobbying the Government for almost 10 years in order to receive assistance in setting up higher standards in the rental property industry. Finally, the Government agreed to help ARLA, which would result in an introduction of ARLA Licensing Scheme, creating gold standards for UK letting agents. ARLA’s sister organization, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) is expected to follow the suit later this year.