© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
The lead professional body for the rental market is calling on government for a long overdue Christmas present. ARLA, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, believes that the best present that landlords and tenants could wish for, after the exposure of yet another failing unregulated letting agent, is the licensing of every letting agent in the land.
ARLA, which regulates some 40% of all mainstream agents to the Association's blueprint for standards, claims that by licensing the agents, much of the myriad of new rules and regulations would be encapsulated in the best practice of agents. Most of all, with mandatory licensing, a much greater proportion of landlords' rents and tenants' deposits would be safeguarded in bonded accounts.
The Association has been calling on successive governments for the licensing of letting agents since the 1988 Housing Act deregulated the private rented sector. It is renewing its calls now after a six month period in which four letting agents' offices have closed down, gone into administration or the principal jailed for fraud. The most recent case of bad practice was exposed by the BBC's Watchdog programme only last month.
ARLA believes that in recent years the number of letting agents failing, with the subsequent loss of rent and deposit money, has been on the increase and caused largely by a combination of inexperience and the lack of proper training.
"In any other sector of the economy, the handling of such large sums of money is properly licensed," points out Adrian Turner, ARLA Chief Executive. “These same agents may not be up to date with new regulation, and there is a lot more coming into force during 2006".
"During the eighteen years since the deregulation of the rental market, other intermediaries, agents and brokers in most sectors of the economy have been required to institute proper financial controls and demonstrate that their knowledge of their market is up to date," he added.
The knowledge needed to be able to act professionally in the rental market is increasing just as quickly as anywhere else in the economy. This year alone, the private rented sector has had to assimilate new building regulations, the Housing Health and Rating System, Disability Discrimination, Selective Licensing and the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation.
ARLA believes that this is almost too much for the typical part-time landlord and buy to let investor to assimilate. To help them and their tenants, all letting agents should be licensed so as to prove they are qualified to be at the forefront of the education process.
Adrian Turner is worried that, while the principles of fidelity bonding and professional qualifications that ARLA implements and stringently enforces are backed by both government and the media, the most effective and widespread way to protect the consumer is still being ignored.
"It is so simple to licence those agents who know what they are doing and criminalise those who set up in business without proper training or professional and financial safeguards," he said. "ARLA has long provided the blueprint for this."