Tenants to be given access to database of rogue agent...

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26 October 2018

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Tenants to be given access to database of rogue agents and landlords

The Guardian says the government is committed to making a datebase of rogue letting agents and landlords available to tenants.

The newspaper quotes a source from the Prime Minister's office saying Theresa May has personally backed the move, which may be formally announced in Monday's Budget.

ARLA Propertymark and some other bodies, including Shelter, have campaigned for this, saying the database will be pointless unless tenants, employers and professional bodies can check entries.

The database has been under fire this week amid reports that no individuals have been added, six months after it was established.

David Cox, chief executive of ARLA, says: "[The] announcement is a triumph for the industry. Hiding this essential information is a prime example of the government failing to see unintended consequences of a vital policy. For this reason we have branded the database ‘truly ridiculous’ up until now. ARLA Propertymark is delighted that government have finally listened to what the industry has been saying since it was put into the Housing and Planning Bill nearly three years ago. We hope the database will now fulfil the objective of professionalising the sector, which we all wanted it to."

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- James B
- 26 October 2018 07:48 AM
If only it was a vote winner for landlords to sue tenants then we would see some help with these rogues also

- Paul Singleton
- 26 October 2018 08:20 AM
How does this work under GDPR legislation? Rogue landlords are individuals so surely their details can’t be just given out? What about a list of rogue tenants, freely available to all decent letting agents?

- James Robinson
- 26 October 2018 09:53 AM
As long as we can keep a list of rogue tenants then I think this is a splendid idea. Perhaps AllAgents can set up a reciprocal site called AllTenants.

- Carolyn Holt
- 26 October 2018 20:40 PM
I agree with the comments above. There needs to be a similar database for tenants. It is not hard to bypass some referencing really, no matter how diligent a referencing agent is. Having to get a court order via Section 8 route should be enough to forewarn landlords how they tenants may behave.

Tenants get a lot of protection from the legislation. It's time to help Landlords out a bit too.