24th August 2004

With the peak Autumn season for lettings just around the corner, ARLA, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, has issued a warning to landlords and tenants to ensure they use regulated letting agents belonging to the professional associations. The Association wants the public to be as aware when approaching the rental market as they are when they travel on holiday.

The Chief Executive of ARLA, Adrian Turner, issued the warning following the crash this month of Exeter letting agents, Greenacres. This is the fourth failure to be brought to ARLA's attention since January this year, as lettings firms have failed in Brighton, Bristol, and Nottingham.

Said Adrian Turner, "Despite the fact that more than a Billion pounds is held by letting agents at any one time, there is no statutory control over them or their clients' money. However, the three professional bodies regulate their own members very closely indeed."

He pointed out that there is no need for the public to risk money or property. When a regulated letting agent is used, tenants' deposits and landlords' rents are fully ring-fenced and bonded.

Mr Turner believes that a major reason for carelessness when choosing a letting agent is the fact that only a small percentage of the public is in the rental market at any one time and when there is a problem it remains as local news. As a result, the public at large remains unaware of the potential for failure.

"The public is careful to protect their money and their interests when they travel. Probably, as so many people travel, often several times a year, most are conscious of the need to use fully regulated travel agents or to cover themselves in one way or another. And, when a jumbo load of tourists is stuck in a South American jungle it makes for a dramatic story and hits the national headlines.

"Unfortunately, the failure of a local letting agent is not held up as a warning in the same way, even when students and the vulnerable can lose their deposits and the rent can be a significant part of a landlord's pension. So, as the leading professional body for the Private Rented Sector, we believe we must keep repeating the mantra: Always use a regulated agent."

It is simple to find a regulated agent. There are some 1,500 ARLA member offices and they cover most of the country. There is a website and a hotline to help both landlords and tenants find ARLA members quickly.

Regulated ARLA agents are fully bonded, hold professional indemnity insurance and are audited by independent chartered accountants. They are also required to hold professional qualifications in letting and residential management and many are now members of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for Regulated Agents, TSDRA.

TSDRA is a further guarantee that deposits are controlled correctly. Any dispute between landlord and tenant can be resolved without going to court but through fast, skillful and independent adjudication and without extra cost for the adjudication. Many letting agents who are members of ARLA and RICS have joined the scheme which replaced the government scheme in May. It is expected to be made a compulsory condition of membership of these two organisations in the near future.

Admitted Adrian Turner. "It can be a bit depressing when we do so much to protect the public with bonding, insurance and qualification requirements and, now, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and still the public goes to unregulated agents, especially as there is no need. Properly qualified regulated agents are to be found in most places."

To find a regulated agent visit www.arla.co.uk or call the ARLA hotline, 0845 345 5752. For details of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme for Regulated Agents visit www.tds.gb.com

Ends

Editor's Note: The failure of unregulated letting agents during the first six months of this year has been reported in the Brighton Argus, the Bristol Evening Post, the Exeter Express and the Nottingham Evening Post.

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