Reforms to the membership criteria for ARLA, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, have been described as a major step forward in widening the professional and ethical standards available to landlords and tenants in the Private Rented Sector.
The stringent financial controls over client accounts, where landlords’ rents and tenants’ deposits are held, remain the prime priority for ARLA and its membership. However, the rules that stipulate new ARLA members must have been in the lettings business for a minimum of two years have been relaxed.
All lettings agents, whether start-ups or long established, are invited to apply to join ARLA. The joining process is still likely to take some months. This is due to the requirement for independent chartered accountants to investigate the running and control of each firms’ client accounts - the public’s money - and then to signify full compliance with the requirements of ARLA and its compulsory Bonding Scheme of First Resort. This is the only bonding scheme of its kind in the industry.
Although some applications will not succeed, ARLA will actively encourage and assist applicant firms to take the joining process stage by stage until they are ready for membership.
This change in the rules for joining the only professional association solely concerned with the Private Rented Sector aims to take account of the number of competent professionals with long experience in the industry who have branched out to start their own lettings business. With the continuing growth of the Private Rented Sector, these start-ups have become increasing common. Originally, the two-year rule was introduced as a necessary benchmark for the start of the application process. Now, with the examination of all paperwork and documentation, such as terms arid conditions, and the interview and due diligence processes and the requirement for ARLA qualified staff to be in place as soon as possible after joining, the two-year rule is outmoded.
To further encourage professional letting agents to join ARLA, employees of ARLA firms gaining ARLA qualifications are eligible for Individual Membership. However, to encourage industry standards to rise to the ARLA level, individual membership of the Association can only be valid during employment by ARLA firms and firms that are members of RICS or the Property Managers Association (Scotland).
Obviously ARLA qualifications themselves are valid for life and seen by many as an important step forward for a career in lettings.
Said Frances Burkinshaw, Chairman of ARLA, “We see these changes to our membership criteria as a major step forward for the Lettings Industry. The whole sector is moving forward and it is up to ARLA as the lead professional body to ensure that the professional standards and hard-won safeguards that are available to landlords and tenants who use ARLA member firms are utilised as widely as possible. We know that there are many very good letting agents out there. We want them all to come forward to join ARLA and help strengthen the Private Rented Sector through their professional and ethical service to the public.”
Locations of ARLA member firms are available on the ARLA hotline, 0845 345 5752, or by visiting the ARLA website
www.arla.co.uk
