10th October 2003

The ARLA Code of Practice 101k

Following a month when three unregulated letting agents as far apart as Nottingham, Watford and Brighton were in the news for failing to safeguard landlords’ and tenants’ interests and money, ARLA has issued a substantially updated Code of Practice. This is the culmination of nearly a year’s work and it reflects the letting industry’s worries over the continuing amount of malpractice by rogue landlords and cowboy agents. It also provides a framework to guide all landlords, tenants and Buy to Let investors in the Private Rented Sector.

This Code of Practice draws on the ARLA experience of best practice, gained from over twenty years as the lead professional body for the Private Rented Sector. It is a compilation drawn from the different sets of ARLA guidelines and the Association’s rules covering financial and ethical compliance, which are compulsory for ARLA member letting agents.

The need for the Code has been underlined by news reports of an unregulated agent in Nottingham found guilty in September of failing to keep an account of clients’ deposits. The company was reported as going into liquidation last year. In the same month, in Watford, the local media reported County Court Judgements against another unregulated agent. Meanwhile in Brighton, the principal of an unregulated letting agent has gone missing owing thousands of pounds. This is the second case of failure by an unregulated letting agent in Brighton this year.

Said Adrian Turner, Chief Executive of ARLA, “We don’t want to have to draw attention to failed unregulated agents. We want the public, tenants and landlords, to make the effort to understand what they should expect from properly regulated ARLA letting agents. Then perhaps tales of misery will stop.”

The ARLA Code has been updated in plain English with a wide audience in mind. It will be actively promoted to landlords, tenants and Buy to Let investors, as well as tenants’ groups, leading consumer organisations, industry bodies and government.

Together with ARLA’s ever popular leaflet “Trouble Free Letting – What Every Landlord and Tenant Should Ask”, the Code of Practice will enable the public to form their own judgement about the quality of professional service they should be expecting from letting agents.

The Code of Practice covers Residential Letting and Property Management services and must be followed closely by registered ARLA members and their staff. ARLA member firms are required to ensure staff are aware of all aspects of the Code and to have an up-to-date knowledge of their legal responsibilities when dealing with landlords, tenants and new applicants. It is also considered very important that firms are able to clarify all letting matters to the general public.”

The Code covers the principles and procedures governing terms of business, fees and charges, rent collection and management. It pays particular attention to the handling of all client monies – landlords’ rents and tenants’ deposits – and the handling of deposit disputes.

Complaint procedures, both internal systems for member companies and for referral to ARLA, and the sanctions against non-compliant member firms that are available to ARLA, are spelt out. The Code also states best practice for market appraisals, marketing and advertising, viewing, access to premises and offers to rent.

Also, in line with today’s requirements, data protection and money laundering are subjects that are included in the revised Code.

Said Adrian Turner, “ARLA has approved this Code after consultation with the membership and with other key players in the Private Rented Sector. The outside bodies include complimentary professional organisations and landlord and tenant groups. We are convinced that the best practice in the lettings industry is self- regulated practice. That is why ARLA will always aim to impose and promote the highest standards on its own members and then promote such standards to the industry and the general public.”

The ARLA Code of Practice and “Trouble Free Letting” can be found on www.arla.co.uk. It can also be obtained through ARLA member offices or by sending a stamped addressed envelope to ARLA Administration, Maple House 53/55 Woodside Road, Amersham, Bucks HP6 6AA

The ARLA Code of Practice 101k

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