Propertymark has given details of how it sees marketing and onboarding processes changing thanks to the Renters Rights Act.

The mandatory national database of landlords will roll out, on a region-by-region basis, later this year.

Propertymark has discovered that under the legislation, and once the database is ‘live’, a rental property must not be marketed unless there is an active database entry for both the landlord and the property. 

Written advertisements will also need to include the unique identifiers allocated to the landlord and dwelling. 

“This means database status is likely to become a core part of an agent’s instruction and property-listing process” says the trade body, noting that fines for non-compliance range from £7,000 to £40,000.

“Although registration is primarily a landlord responsibility, agents will not be able to treat it solely as a matter for their client. 

“The legal restriction applies to the person marketing the property, creating a direct compliance risk for any agent who proceeds without checking that the necessary entries are active.”

Propertymark says that this will in turn require substantial changes to onboarding procedures, with agents likely to need evidence that both the landlord and property are registered before accepting an instruction. P

“It will be important for the system to make clear what happens when an entry expires, is suspended or contains information that is being corrected. Agents will need a reliable way to confirm that an entry remains active, rather than relying on a registration number supplied at the start of the relationship” notes Propertymark.

And amongst the information required before marketing, Propertymark suggests details of all joint owners, company or trust structures, property occupation and current safety documentation.

And it adds: “Unique landlord and property identifiers to appear in written advertisements. Agency websites, customer relationship management systems, property portals and other advertising feeds will need suitable fields to hold and transfer them.

“The system will also need to deal with properties marketed by more than one agent. The agent instructed to advertise the property may not be the agent who secures the tenant or manages the eventual tenancy.”