A ‘tripadvisor’ style website is to be trialled by a consumer watchdog which will allow private tenants to share their experiences – good and bad – of letting agents and landlords.
The experimental consumer review site, which will allow tenants both to slate and praise, will be carefully monitored, with the organisers saying they are aware of the potential for libel and for the posting of malicious comments by rivals, or perhaps by just one disenchanted tenant.
Another issue is who will fund the website.
Behind the move is the statutory body Consumer Focus, formed by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007, which says that the private rented sector generates more complaints than almost any other.
Consumer Focus, which is government backed, is looking for an initial third party to both help fund and evaluate the site.
It says that just 15% of prospective tenants have any knowledge about their letting agents or landlords before they sign a tenancy agreement.
The watchdog is now writing to some of the largest letting agents and also to tenancy deposit schemes, calling on them to explore how online feedback could empower tenants by giving them a better insight.
Its new report, ‘Opening the door’, outlines the information imbalance which works against consumers in the private rented sector. Just 15% of tenants surveyed were able to find all of the information they wanted about a prospective landlord or letting agency.
Over a quarter could find very little or no information, and a third who had found information, obtained it from the landlord themselves.
By contrast, says the report, landlords or letting agencies can ask tenants for references, deposits, guarantors and other personal and financial information.
The report also claims that almost nine in ten renters agree that a website to share tenants’ experiences would help them to make better decisions before signing a tenancy agreement.
It adds that renting is one of the biggest financial commitments consumers make, with private sector tenants paying an average of £816 a month for a one-bedroom home, rising to £1,406 in London.
The research shows that over a quarter of tenants had cause to complain in the past two years.
Many of the 1.1 million households who sign up for a new tenancy experience problems with their landlord or agent which only become apparent after signing a legally binding agreement.
Consumer Focus says that ‘reputational regulation’ has worked well in other sectors with commercial sites such as eBay, tripadvisor and Amazon displaying consumer reviews and feedback to people before they make a decision on what to buy or which restaurant to book.
Consumer Focus did research among 2,000 consumers in January showing that 94% use online review sites to inform their decisions, and 95% support the idea of such a site in the private rented sector.
Claire McAnulty, policy expert at Consumer Focus, said: “There is huge potential for a feedback website to give tenants a better idea of who they’re renting from. Getting behind a feedback website could also help the industry establish a better reputation and build up much-needed trust with renters.”
Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb welcomed the initiative. He said: “Shelter welcomes the findings of this report which clearly highlight the need for better regulation in the private rented sector.
“The findings echo complaints we hear every day from private tenants about the limited protection they have when they rent privately and the desperate lack of available information on landlords to help them make an informed decision.
“We are particularly keen to see the use of landlord accreditation grow. It is vital to raise standards, help tenants get information about their landlord, and provide landlords with the advice and support they need to offer a professional service to their tenants.”
Consumer Focus is also calling for a minimum common standard and a quality mark to be introduced to benchmark all 80 of the voluntary private landlord accreditation schemes currently in operation.
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Comments
lifb: just to let you know that the site you mention is nothing to do with the Consumer Focus site, which is not up yet.
This website already exists - http://www.landlordfeedback.co.uk
Rich, no not missed the point, only asking for a little balance in the discussion. Not all tenants are bad and the same is said of landlords and agents. I agree with your point though as to who is going to moderate it and how much will this cost. If landlords and letting agents are as big a problem as this article is suggesting, then license them!
We run a site that references tenants throughout the UK, we are a free service that allows landlords and agents to search a tenants name to see if they are known by another landlord/agent, if they are we will put both landlord/agents in touch with one another to discuss the suitability of a tenant. We do not however give any personal information out about tenants. we comply with data protection. please join us at www.landloreferencing.co.uk to protect landlords from bad tenants
Perhaps along with this website, there could be a section where landlord were able to post about tenants who have not paid their rent! This story just seems to be a regurgitated press release. Why isn't EAT asking questions of these people. Perhaps the deposit schemes can give us the number of tenants who disappear at the end of tenancies with the landlord trying to claim the deposit back just to cover back rent. This is not a dig at tenants, because as with letting agents, the majority are fine, but perhaps we can have some balanced reporting....
Chippy James is right. allagents.co.uk is there for Landlords, Tenants, Vendors and Purchasers to write their reviews.
I have seen this site as being a positive rather than a negative. At the Estate Agency that I worked at before my current employer, I used this site frequently by asking people to provide comments on the service that I and the company had provided to them. Luckily, all of my comments were positive! This enabled me to print off the comments and use them as part of my valuation pack when trying to bring in new business.
I am setting up this sytem for it to be use at the Estate Agency I currently work at.
Not only from the customers point of view does it give chance to comment on service standards, but it also allows the Agent to reply on any comment.
However, there is a downside to this site. Anyone could put a comment on an agents wall. For example, someone who worked for an agency could put a nasty comment on about a competator agent and no one would know whether it was true or not.
Like with everything there are pros and cons but I have found it to be a pro.
This type of website already exists, its called allagents.co.uk and is quite frankly the most ghastly thing in creation. There is no moderation and often appears libellous, its hard to believe some of these agents could operate for more than a few months without geting caught by the law. Some agents try to reason with the tenants only to be worn down by the sheer venom. Will Consumer Focus really be investigating every complaint to ensure that they are accurate?