Why do some housing associations appear to believe they are exempt from letting agent regulations?
This is a genuine question that I believe deserves wider discussion across the housing sector.
Where a housing association is managing homes on behalf of an independent private landlord within the private rented sector (PRS), and is:
Advertising and letting properties, carrying out affordability assessments, granting and administering tenancies,
collecting rent on behalf of the landlord, arranging repairs and maintenance, carrying out inspections, managing rent reviews and handling complaints.
Those are the activities that legislation describes as lettings agency work and property management work.
The legal framework governing those activities includes:
• Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 – provides the statutory basis for mandatory membership of an approved redress scheme.
• The Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) (England) Order 2014 – requires businesses carrying out qualifying lettings agency work or property management work to belong to a government-approved redress scheme.
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 (Part 3, Chapter 3) – requires letting agents to publicly display their fees and, where applicable, details of their approved redress scheme and Client Money Protection membership.
• Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019 – require property agents who hold client money in the PRS to belong to an approved Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme.
These requirements exist to provide transparency, accountability and consumer protection across the private rented sector.
So my question is simple:
Why do some housing associations appear to believe they are exempt from these requirements when acting as a managing agent for an independent private landlord in the PRS?
If there is a specific statutory exemption, I’d genuinely welcome being directed to the legislation. If there isn’t, then surely the same regulatory standards should apply to all organisations carrying out the same letting and property management functions, regardless of whether they are a housing association or a commercial letting agent.
I’d welcome views from housing associations, regulators, solicitors, letting agents and anyone with expertise in housing law.
Many thanks
Sam
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Member Since February 2011 - Comments: 3458 - Articles: 286
10:12 AM, 21st July 2026, About 5 hours ago
Sam raises a valid point, but housing associations do have a limited statutory exemption. Section 84(7)(a) of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 excludes property-management work carried out by a social landlord from the redress scheme regime.
However, this is not necessarily a blanket exemption when a housing association acts as a letting agent for an independent private landlord. The letting-agency exclusion generally applies where the landlord itself is a registered provider, not simply because the agent is one. The Consumer Rights Act fee-transparency rules and the separate Client Money Protection rules may therefore still apply, particularly where rent or other client money is held.
The precise position depends on the legal entity, contract and activities undertaken, but a housing association should not assume that its status exempts all of its private-sector agency operations.