Don’t be in the dark about grey areas and shady operators

Riccardo Giovanacci shines a light on rogue letting agents

With the Scottish Government’s new Scottish Letting Agent Register application deadline of the first day of this month now past, it will be interesting to see how many agents – and those acting as agents – have applied to join the list.

All those currently carrying out lettingagency work are legally obliged to appear on the register, so landlords should really ask their letting agents if they have signed up.

It might be the right time to ask a couple of other key questions too, such as are they compliant with the lettings agent code of practice, and has the tenant’s deposit been lodged with a secure tenancy deposit scheme?

It is imperative that guarantees are in place to ensure regulation in the lettings market is adequately policed to crackdown on unlawful letting agents.

There is unfortunately an air of criminality among many operators and, sadly, there are still instances where safety and financial standards are being compromised.

Fraud, money laundering and tax evasion are all still rife among rogue letting agents, many of whom are themselves landlords, despite legal measures being introduced to stamp them out.

For too long now many letting agents have been operating in a sector that has been lacking minimum safety standards with many shocking instances of unhygienic living standards, including vermin infestation and dangerous bacteria, such as legionella, lurking in shower heads.

Worse still are the cases of potentially lethal levels of carbon monoxide being present in properties due to faulty boilers.

Transparency is imperative in the lettings sector to safeguard tenants and keep landlords on the right side of the law and registration should offer reassurances that all agents have been vetted by the government.

It will also store information on whether an agent has been refused or had their registration removed for any reason.

To make the grade, it is compulsory for all agents to possess professional qualifications and have previous lettings experience.

This registration, if policed appropriately, is certainly a step in the right direction but the legislation could go further to help stamp out rogue letting agents and improve the standards of Scotland’s lettings sector.

But to be effective, the Scottish Government needs to resource proactive enforcement of regulation and ensure that this does not become another landlord registration scenario.

Landlords have been required for several years to register with their local authority however, despite reassuring rhetoric, there is very little policing or appetite for enforcement.

Where activity by an unregistered individual letting agent is common knowledge, the government should not wait until a formal complaint is raised by a landlord or a tenant.

If you feel your current agent is not fully transparent, get in touch with the Association of Residential Letting Agents Propertymark or one of its registered agents for professional advice.

From this month, it is a criminal offence to carry out letting agency work without being fully signed up to the letting agent register.

Landlords should be careful who they choose to work with.

Riccardo Giovanacci is letting director at Newton Property