From April 2019 all property and letting agents will need to be members of an approved client money protection scheme.
This marks a triumph for ARLA Propertymark following a long campaign to even the playing field amongst property and letting agents, many of whom offer their tenant and landlord clients no financial security or redress in the event of malpractice or business closure.
Leicester letting agents Anderson's are members of ARLA Propertymark and our clients have received the benefits of this financial assurance for many years. Chris Anderson explained "For many years the lettings business has been unregulated and its mostly been agents like Anderson's who have led the way with voluntary membership of the industry's largest regulatory body (ARLA Propertymark). We've seen the devastation caused to landlords and tenants when a letting agent disappears with client money, leaving a trail of poor record keeping and debt behind closed and shuttered up doors. As part of our membership of ARLA Propertymark our accounts are annually audited, we maintain training records and all our client's money is protected"
Mandatory membership and regulation is coming and it's only going to be a good thing for the private rented sector. Local authorities in Leicester are being given powers to enforce these laws, but it's clients who are becoming more and more aware of the risks of using unregulated letting agents.
