There are quite a few people renting property for the first time, and inevitably, there are rogue letting agents setting up shop to take their money.
If you are new to landlording, you should be VERY careful when choosing an agent. Particularly if the rented property is not local to you so you won’t be able to keep a eye on it.
Remember your property is a very valuable investment. You need to be sure it is in good hands.
Here are the five tips
1. Check the staff – are the friendly and helpful? Do they have professional qualifications?
2. Be wary if the fees are noticeably lower than those of similar firms – this may be because they are cutting costs and using unqualified staff
3. Ask to speak to some of their current landlords, and/or seek advice from any local landlords you may know – this is a good reason to join a landlords association
4. On balance the longer established firms are more likely to be reliable and do a good job than firms which have very recently set up. The new firm may be all right, but longevity is a good sign
5. Most important of all – make sure that they are regulated by one of the following professional organizations:
- The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)
- The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS)
- Or are a firm of solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
If you use a regulated firm you are generally protected from the worst problems which can occur, as these firms are required to have client money protection, and abide by a professional code of conduct.
Unless you know the firm really well, it is just not worth the risk using a firm which is not regulated by one of these organizations.
Mind you, you may not actually need to use an agent. Have a look at our New Landlords Guide and see whether managing your properties yourself is an option for you.
I would just add, before you sign up with a local agent call your local housing advice office or Tenancy Relations Officer if you have one, or even the council’s Environmental Health Residential team and trading standards officers and ask their advice on who is the best and worst
Hi Ben
I started operating as a letting agent last year, having been a landlord for a number of years. I’ve never had cause to come in contact the the TRO either as a landlord or a letting agent. Wouldn’t this leave me out in the cold just purely because I do things right?
I am licensed by NALS, qualified with the NFoPP and a member of the Property Ombudsman scheme.
There are a lot of rogue agents out there. They take money and spend it. I used to do the books for a letting agent (in my past life) and could see that they were receiving rents and not paying them on to the landlords.
When they finally went out of business landlords lost money.
Rogue Agents are rogues to both tenants and landlords.
It’s worth checking the websites of the regulated bodies Tessa mentions, as they list their member agents.
Many agents rightly or wrongly dont feel they get any value from joining the professional organisations. Without naming names, I have often questioned this value from agents, seeing the very high charges from these professional bodies to become a member. Many agents I know are not members but they still operate the client accounts, professional indemnity etc etc that any regulated agent would. for the sake of “image” and “professionalism” i am planning on joining two of these but I do question what value they give back. I feel not much. some might disagree.
I totally agree with Nick, I have run a letting agency for many years and we were members of ARLA, until they increased their costs of membership to an excess level. We couldn’t justify the cost and received no benefit. We have carried on growing every year, we operate client accounts and we have indemnity. My advice would be talk to landlords who have been with the company for years, they can give a true picture.
I am a landlord and have been for many years but could not manage two of my flats in Nottingham as I work in London so I appointed an agent who was regulated by NAEA.
Unfortunately, I trusted this company who collected rent and on occasions did not pass it onto me. I began to get suspicious when they would not pass the keys over to another agent and miraculously found tenants. They also deducted utility charges from me and for things they did not do. I contacted the local council to see who was on the council list and found out that the agents had used my name on several occasions in order to steal my money. I lost around £5k over a 3 year period. I complained to NAEA who were not interested in my story. Why because I was not a member?
I called NLA for advice but they would not help me because I was not a member.
I tried a no win no fee solicitor but the agent was able to justify their story because of the many lies they had made up. In the end my solicitor gave up as he was getting nowhere.
I now manage my own properties and would not be in a hurry to trust an estate again or any landlord association. This is because I would not have got my money back had I been a member only common sense advice which I worked out myself.