One of Britain's most outspoken lettings agents says tenants are simply unaware of the new redress regime which has been in force since the start of this month.
Agents who have not registered with one of three government-approved schemes - the Property Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services Property and the Property Redress Scheme - face £5,000 fines, but at least one agent believes it is a toothless threat.
Ajay Jagota, chief executive officer of lettings agency KIS, says: I don't believe that more than a handful of the UK's 3.9m private tenants had any idea the scheme was coming and even fewer realise it's actually started.
Most damningly he claims: Even assuming their complaints would otherwise be dealt with to their satisfaction, if tenants don't know the scheme exists they can't complain. If no-one has noticed the schemes exist, they may as well not exist.
He says there are already sufficient regulations and laws already in place to effectively act against rogue letting agents - the real problem, he believes, is a lack of resources to police the industry.
I'm also not clear why exactly there are three schemes instead of one. What happens if an agent leaves a scheme, voluntarily or otherwise Can they just sign up to a new scheme if they're kicked out of one, or could they just carry on unregistered - just like we've seen with the existing deposit protection scheme he asks.
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Comments
Why open your big mouth if you want to keep it quiet, like these people who put stickers on thier windows...don't do it..who wants a complaint
Ajay
I appreciate that the article has edited your comments but a number of your statements contradict each other.
You say that many tenants are unaware of the schemes and that they are able to complain. It is early days and we are working with the industry, tenant groups such as the NUS and Shelter and national and local government to raise awareness. It will also be down to agents themselves to make their customers aware of the scheme. We will monitor this and provide guidance and best practice tools to assist them do this. It will be a long process of education and modification of behaviour.
You also state that there are already sufficient laws and regulations in place to hold agents to account. In my experience a good number of agents, let alone their tenant and landlord clients are unaware of these laws and customers rarely use them to hold the agent to account. This is why I also welcome the new Private Rented Sector guide that outlines the obligations of those people letting out property and what the law says in an easy to read format. This guide will become the base document for dealing with complaints for the redress schemes.
Enforcement is always an issue with any law, however with this law the process is very simple. You either are or are not a member of a scheme and it is a simple job for a local authority to check. If an offence is discovered the maximum fine is 5000, which the local authority can keep.
That is quite a bit more than even the most draconian parking fine so why would they not enforce it
Finally you ask why there are three separate schemes and what happens if an agent is expelled from one. Having three schemes, gives the agent a choice and will encourage competition and innovation amongst the schemes. Three schemes is enough to do this without causing confusion for the consumer. Too many and yes the scheme becomes impractical.
In terms of expelled members the three schemes have mechanisms in place for sharing this data and if one kicks out a member, the others will refuse to accept them on their scheme, they will therefore not be able to trade. We will also share data with local authorities, who will use their enforcement powers to close down the now illegal business.
I appreciate that for some this initiative does not go far enough and for others it is another burden on the industry. I hope however that the above demonstrates that this scheme will have teeth and will provide a safer environment for all parties to engage in a productive and healthy industry.
Sean Hooker ACIArb
Head of Redress
The Property Redress Scheme