News Article

LETTING LAW REFORMS DON`T GO FAR ENOUGH

The latest reforms fail to tackle the problem at the heart of the lettings industry, says Steven Kirupai, managing director of Brighton Homes letting agent in Brighton. Over the past several year, Brighton Homes has been specialising in letting, there have been countless reforms, schemes, rules and regulations introduced to raise standards in the industry during this time. The latest of these-a package of reforms aimed to protect people renting a property-has just been announced by Erick Pickles, Minister for Communities and Local Government.

As a strong proponent of better standards in the industry, Brighton Homes welcome all measures to protect tenants and landlords. However the latest reforms-like those before them-fail to tackle the problem at the heart of the industry. Our aim & ambition here at Brighton Homes is to change the way our industry operates and we have been lobbying the relevant organisations and local & national governments to implement a positive change. The fact is, letting agents-the people entrusted to let and look after rented property-are not regulated. You can have as many laws, regulations, schemes and charters as you like –but if there is no regulation of the people who are supposed to abide by them then only the good agents will do so, while the unscrupulous will continue to flout the law whenever they please.

Steven further added that he was very surprised that it’s taken so long to make a decision. The solution is simple, he said, all letting agents should be licensed to practice and if they are not it should be illegal for them to operate. Rather than acting after they have broken laws and let people down, they should be prevented from practising in the first place. We already have many sensible laws governing letting but, currently, anyone can set up as a letting agent with no qualifications, experience or knowledge of the legalities of letting.

It should be mandatory for letting agents to be qualified, with a sound knowledge of the laws governing lettings, to abide by an agreed code of conduct and to have client-money protection and professional indemnity insurance. Landlords who do not let their properties through a regulated agent should be licensed. This is the only effective way to protect the public.

If you have a property to rent in Brighton & Hove we then use a reputable agent like us, we have knowledgeable staff members who have had at least 15 years in the lettings industry, all with the same passion and ethos that Landlords need to be treated and looked after well.

To find out why we the fastest growing successful independent agent in town, pop in and see us or call us on 01273 672 333
for a no obligation chat. Isn’t it time you joined a letting agent who is campaigning to bring a positive change to the industry.