Stronger protections for tenants and leaseholders
15 Apr 2014 02:40 PM
All letting and property
management agents will be required to join an approved 'redress scheme'
later this year.
Millions of tenants and
leaseholders will receive stronger protection from unscrupulous letting agents,
under plans announced by Housing Minister Kris Hopkins today (15 April
2014).
The minister revealed 3 approved
‘redress schemes’ that all letting and property management agents
will be required to join later this year, and will ensure tenants and
leaseholders have a straightforward option to hold their agents to
account.
The 3 compulsory redress schemes
– The Property Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services Property and The Property
Redress Scheme – will offer independent investigation of complaints about
hidden fees or poor service. Where a complaint is upheld, tenants and
leaseholders could receive compensation.
The majority of letting agents
are already signed up with one of the 3 organisations. The remaining 3,000
agents, 40% of the entire industry, will now be encouraged to join one of the
schemes ahead of the legal requirement.
Mr Hopkins said the new rules
would strike the right balance between protecting tenants and not harming the
industry with excessive red tape, and were just one part of the
government’s efforts to secure a better deal for tenants in the private
rented sector.
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins
said:
All tenants and leaseholders
have a right to fair and transparent treatment from their letting agent. Most
are happy with the service they receive, but a small minority of agents are
ripping people off, and giving the whole industry a bad name.
That’s why we will require
all agents to belong to one of the official redress schemes. They will ensure
tenants have a straightforward route to take action if they get a poor deal,
while avoiding excessive red tape that would push up rents and reduce choice
for tenants
Other measures that are being
introduced by the government to protect tenants include:
- a new voluntary code of practice
that will set standards for the management of property in the private rented
sector, with a view to making it statutory to provide greater confidence for
tenants in what they can expect
- a new help to rent guide, which
will help tenants understand what they should expect from their rental deal,
and how they can take action if they are the victim of hidden fees or poor
standards of accommodation
- the introduction of a model
tenancy agreement, which landlords and tenants can use for longer tenancies (3
years, for example) which will provide extra security and stability for
families
- extra guidance for local
councils on how to tackle rogue landlords, protect tenants from illegal
eviction and how best to push for harsher penalties before magistrates for
housing offences where these have a real impact on peoples’
lives
- an on-going review is
considering how else we can improve property conditions in the private rented
sector, and tackle bad landlords without any negative impact on the majority of
landlords who provide a good service to their tenants. A discussion document inviting views on these issues was
published earlier this year. The deadline for responses was 28 March and these
are now being considered
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