An easy way to regulate the lettings industry

Maybe the government will do a u-turn when they realise how passionate people are about this and that it affects 15% of all households. If not, perhaps the Councils will find a way to introduce licensing schemes? It would only take one Council to realise that it's an income generation opportunity and they all be all over it, just as they are now with selective licencing and HMO licence fees. I know that Councillors and MP's read my blogs which is why I've wriiten this. I may not have the power to make the rules but I can influence them.  As they used to say at BT, it's good to talk 😉

Blimey Mark if this was actually introduced half the LA would have to go out of business   LOL!!!?

I'd feel a lot more confident in dealing with the survivers though, wouldn't you? It would certainly take the guesswork and luck elements out of picking a good one 😉

I agree with your suggestion Mark but I'm sorry to say that it does not go far enough.  BEFORE a person opens his doors as an Agent he should first know the business of those he has chosen to represent and many LA's do not know the law or regulation and get landlords into big trouble. For me there are two issue
1. Financial considerations - which your idea would cover
2. Landlords liablity for mistakes made by LA who are working on their behalf.

It might soften the blow if a landlord could claim compensation from an Agent who had dropped him in it but it would not prevent the landlord being presecuted/loosing his fit and proper person status/upsetting his tenants/getting a bad reputation...........

I know some excellent LA's but all are small private companies where the owner is involved on a day to day basis and has made it his/her business to know the law and regulation and to protect both the landlord and tenant from mistakes made through ignorance.

I would like to see your idea coupled with a minimum requirement to prove competance and continual professional development to ensure that their knowledge is always up to date

Yep keep 'talking' Mark; you never know it could well have a positive effect.

It's probably an urban myth Mary but I've heard that there are more words in the FSA regulation of Financial Services than there are in the Bible and Koran combined and how many people have read let alone can recite both of those! I can see how easily this happens though as the wish list for regulation grows and grows. My suggestion is based on the real version of simplification, unlike the FSA's pathetic attempts for achieve pensions simplification which quite frankly is a joke! The reality is that everything you have suggested would automatically fall into placed based purely on commercial forces affecting the simplistic structure I have recommended. For example, how long do you think it would take for PI insurers to realise that providing insurance to new operators with no formal qualification and experience results in more claims? Before long insurers would put such massive loadings on premiums for such businesses that the insurance would be unaffordable and they would never get licensed. Either that or the insurers would simply refuse to carry the risk. Either way, my simple criteria would prove to be effective without re-creating the ridiculousness of an FSA styled regime.

I plan to write to all of our subscribers asking them to bring this thread to the attention of their local MP's and Councillors Paul so watch this space 😉

What a smart boy you are Mark.  Yes that makes perfect sense and "simple" usually has the best chance of success

I personally would welcome regulation and have done for years. The problem is that Lettings is unregulated, but the English population thinks that if someone holds themselves out as a professional then they must be! But this is sadly not the case. As letting agents we have 100,000's or millions of pounds through our accounts, and if this gets into the hands of someone with debt issues or an unscrupulous edge, then this leads to closure and theft of the money in many cases, which is bad for the industry and us honest agents that spens thousands every year on various insurnaces, memberships to various accreditations, client account auditing and accounting staff and procedures to do everything right.

Only to be told by a landlord that they want to us Fred over the road who charges a few percent less and has none of these things.

YOU could have bad LA quaking in their boots!!
Heres hoping you have successful responses