Compulsory redress scheme for all letting agents

Published: 06/10/2014

As of 1st October 2014 letting agents and property management agents must become a member of an approved redress scheme.

The new regulations come following a 37 per cent increase in complaints to the Property Ombudsman about letting agents from both tenants and landlords.

Letting agents often hold money on behalf of the tenant and landlord. However, until now, if there was a dispute landlords and tenants could have lost their money as not all were covered by client money protection.

There are three schemes available:

• The Property Ombudsman
• The Property Redress Scheme
• Ombudsman Services Property.

Of course if you’re a landlord you don’t have to go through an agent to let your property or manage the tenancy – you can do all that yourself. However it certainly isn’t something that should be entered into lightly.

There are many obligations and laws landlords must follow when letting property, not to mention the steps they must take to protect themselves and their investment.

Landlord Hero is a free system designed specifically for landlords who manage their own rental properties. It allows you to house all your property, tenants and tenancy information online and in one place as well as create free tenancy agreement, track rent payments, create and store inventories and set notifications and reminders for things like gas safety certificates and insurance renewals.

Visit the Landlord Hero website for more information and to create a free account

Content correct at time of publication