‘Fly-by-night’ letting agents, who rip off tenants through levying ‘hidden’ upfront charges or withholding deposits, face heavy fines and potential bans from trading, Housing Minister Mark Prisk announced yesterday (April 16th).
The letting of homes has previously been governed by the 1993 Property Misdescriptions Act (PMA), which specified standards for the accurate marketing of homes both in promotional materials like websites and brochures, and in discussions with prospective tenants.
However, the PMA has now been repealed, with landlords and lettings agents instead being forced to abide by the 2008 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.
The rule changes mean that they will be forced to disclose any negative information about their properties, such as whether they are located on busy roads or have neighbours known to cause a disturbance.
In addition, it is being proposed that agents will have to join a Government-approved ombudsman scheme, which will give tenants and landlords who have been mistreated the chance to get their money back without having to go to court.
The reason for the change is that thousands of small, unregulated letting agencies have emerged over recent years to feed the demand from people desperate to rent. However, unlike estate agents, they are not required to join a redress scheme that has legal ramifications for them.
The change, which is likely to become law by the autumn is being brought about through secondary legislation following further consultation with the letting agency industry and is being welcomed by the majority of agents who act properly.