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Trading standards cuts threaten lettings redress regulation
The new regime which begins tomorrow obliging all letting agencies to be members of one of three industry redress schemes appears to have widespread support – but will it be effectively regulated?
The Department of Communities and Local Government says any agency forgetting or refusing to join by the deadline, which is tomorrow – October 1 – will risk a fine of £5,000 and possible effective exclusion from the industry.
But the policing of which agents are in or out has been left to local authority trading standards, and it has now emerged that these are subject to large spending cuts.
The average level of cuts to their budgets is 40 per cent, staggered over a proposed five years from 2014, and is in addition to a 45 per cent reduction in trading standards staffing in councils over the past five years.
Leon Livermore, chief executive of the Trading Standards Institute says further cuts are “unsustainable.”
Even so, housing minister Brandon Lewis is reminding letting agents that they have only today to register with one of the three redress schemes or else risk being discovered by trading standards inspectors.
Lewis, speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference, said it was vital that anyone who felt they received a poor deal from their letting agent must be able to take their complaint to a redress scheme and receive compensation if appropriate.
The October 1 deadline has been known for several weeks and the three rival redress schemes – The Property Ombudsman, Ombudsman Services Property and the Property Redress Scheme – says there has been strong demand for membership in the past 10 days in particular.
Sean Hooker, head of redress at the Property Redress Scheme, told Letting Agent Today that the service’s phones “have been ringing off the hook.” He says there has been “a tsunami of interest” in recent weeks.
Any agent not signed up could be at risk of being fined up to £5,000
