Many private landlords choose not to use lettings agents while at the lower end of the sector where
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Many private landlords choose not to use lettings agents, while at the lower end of the sector, where poor standards are most evident, tenants are at greater risk from cowboy agents and unscrupulous landlords.. I asked Ted Watts what he thinks will persuade agencies to join NALS when they haven't joined ARLA, which he admits is a "first-rate organisation"? "A recognition that NALS will be the nationwide body, and so very much larger than ARLA. ARLA accepts that to progress we must all get together to set common standards," he says.NALS aims to offer protection to landlords and, with the support of all properly regulated and bonded letting agents, will safeguard the estimated £1bn of tenant deposits that are unprotected. It also hopes to protect the public, landlords and tenants from incompetent or inexperienced agents who often operate without professional indemnity insurance.Tenants should benefit indirectly from the scheme's intentions to advise landlords before letting the property. Agents must follow an internal complaints procedure if problems arise and, if the situation is still unresolved, offer mediation and binding arbitration.But some professionals question whether the scheme will have much impact. Members must collect rent monthly, provide regular statements, keep separate clients' accounts and belong to a money protection scheme.Mr Wood welcomes NALS, but with reservations: "It's no good if councils aren't going to use them. In our case Redbridge had approved these particular letting agents and insisted that we use them.
The scheme will only work if councils go along with it and so far that's not happening."Lettings agencies are unregulated and of 10,000 existing agencies only 3,000 belong to professional organisations. It was subsequently declared bankrupt; Mr Wood now finds himself acting as spokesperson for the "Chesters Liquidating Committee" representing a group of 200 landlords. "Together we've lost over £500,000 in total," says Mr Wood who has so far been unable to recover any lost revenue.The service standards that members agree to when they join NALS might have spared Mr Wood and his fellow committee members their ordeal. The council had insisted that Mr Wood use one of them to manage his several flats and houses, and apart from the agent's "slowness in passing on rent" he suffered no initial problems.But eventually the payments dried up and Mr Wood, along with many other landlords in the area, found that the firm had collapsed. The Association of Residential Lettings Agents, the professional association for reputable agencies, has been around for some time and is a member agent of NALS, along with the three other partner organisations: the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers, the National Association of Estate Agents and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.Ted Watts, the NALS chairman, believes the support of professional bodies is vital: "Only the combined force of all member firms within our partner organisations can build the security ring around the private rented sector to keep the public away from incompetent, often unscrupulous and dishonest agents who sometimes undercut legitimate lettings firms."Landlord Reeve Wood didn't imagine that Chesters, the lettings agency he'd chosen to manage his property portfolio, was unscrupulous: after all they were on Redbridge council's list of approved agents. Nick Raynsford, the Housing minister, hopes the NALS logo, which all members will be entitled to display, will become a familiar high-street sign and act as a benchmark for reputation: "I urge all lettings agents to consider the benefits that joining could bring to their business," he says. By getting members to stick to a code of practice it hopes to set standards and drive cowboys from the private rented sector for good So far the signs are hopeful.
Within three days of its launch late last year the National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS) attracted interest from more than 800 lettings agents keen to join.The scheme has government support and gained further credibility with last week's announcement that it is to receive the funding it needs to raise public awareness. Add to this incompetent lettings agent who fail to regularly visit, collect rent or carry out inventories and it's easy to see why tenants and landlords can end up in court. But a new scheme aimed at lettings agents may change all this. The nightmare ones wreck the place, cause a nuisance and don't pay their rent on time or, in some cases, at all. Tales abound of dodgy landlords who don't return deposits, carry out repairs or ensure safety checks And not all tenants are blameless. The nightmare ones wreck the place, cause a nuisance and don't pay their rent on time or, in some cases, at all.
Add to this incompetent lettings agent who fail to regularly visit, collect rent or carry out inventories and it's easy to see why tenants and landlords can end up in court The private rented scene can be a sorry one. The private rented scene can be a sorry one. Tales abound of dodgy landlords who don't return deposits, carry out repairs or ensure safety checks And not all tenants are blameless. St John the Baptist church in Finchingfield has a Norman tower.ContactsAbbey New Homes, 01376 552992; Great Notley Country Village, 01376 344083, www.countryside-properties.co.uk; Allen Estates, 01376 553900; Gray, 01371 810154; Joscelyne Chase, 01376 551431.. Also, the Finchingfield Guildhall & Museum and Great Bardfield Cottage Museum & Cage. Braintree was a centre for the woollen industry in the Middle Ages, and the Church of St Michael the Archangel dates to the 13th century. In Coggeshall, the Heritage Museum, the National Trust Paycockes House, and Grange Barn, the oldest timber-framed barn in Europe.
