CMP becomes a legal requirement in England

Membership of a Government Approved Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme becomes a legal requirement for all agents in England dealing with residential lettings across England from Monday 1 April.

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Agents must display a certificate confirming membership of an Approved CMP scheme both in branch and on the website.

Under the regulations, agents are also required to have their Client Money Handling Procedures on their websites and, at a client’s request, also available in a hard copy format, free of charge.

The law requires agents to display a CMP certificate in each branch.

Client Money Protection (CMP) is a compensation scheme which recompenses landlords and tenants should an agent misappropriate their rent, deposit or other client funds. It is a requirement for ARLA Propertymark members to have CMP.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 enabled the Secretary of State to require letting and property agents in England to be a member of a government-approved Client Money Protection scheme.

On 4 March 2019 the Government passed The Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019.

ARLA Propertymark led the campaign with industry support for the introduction of the new rules, more information can be found here.

Following our successful campaign, spearheaded in Parliament by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town, and supported by 30 organisations including member agents, the other professional bodies for letting agents, tenant groups and landlord bodies, the Government ruled in favour of mandating CMP for all letting agents in England from Monday 1st April 2019. From Monday, all agents will need to have joined an Approved CMP scheme, or they will be operating illegally and risk facing large fines.

Those who haven’t yet joined a scheme must sign up to one immediately. Propertymark has received formal Approval from the Housing Minister, Heather Wheeler MP, to operate a Government-authorised CMP scheme on behalf of its members, so they are all automatically covered. Those who aren’t part of a professional body can sign up to Money Shield, a straight-forward and cost-effective solution with formal Approval.

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David Cox Chief Executive | ARLA Propertymark

Further information

More information on CMP can be found in our membership rules and obligations and the Money Shield website.

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26 Mar 2019
Fact sheet: Client Money Protection for letting and managing agents

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 enables the Secretary of State to require that letting and property agents in England belong to a government-approved Client Money Protection scheme.