The Government is planning new measures to help leaseholders, landlords and tenants gain confidence in working with managing and letting agents with calls for a compulsory redress scheme.

The redress scheme will mean that agents will come under investigation on such matters as being unclear on or having hidden fees, not acting properly on behalf of landlords or tenants and should guarantee a much more efficient and cheaper way to follow up complaints and receive compensation.

The requirement for all property management and lettings agents to become members of an approved redress scheme is gathering momentum and the proposed conditions of a redress scheme has now been made available by the government.
 
Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said: “Private rented homes play an important role in providing flexible accommodation to many hard working people who either do not want to buy or who are saving up for a deposit.
 
“Having a redress scheme will provide confidence to both tenants and landlords that any problems with letting agents can be cheaply and swiftly resolved and provides an alternative to the court system.
 
“The conditions we are publishing set out our view of what needs to be considered in setting up a redress scheme that can give peace of mind to many people living and operating in the private rented sector and in leasehold accommodation.”
 
In the document it also outlines that Residential leaseholders and freeholders will hopefully no longer need to go to tribunals or court to resolve any issues with a managing agent.

The government is asking for proposals from companies or organisations to run such schemes should be submitted in January 2104 and it is strongly advising managing agents to sign up to one before it is made mandatory.

The redress scheme follows on from the recent publication of the tenant’s charter for the private rented sector. Within the charter it states that all tenants must be made aware exactly what their tenancy is and what to expect from it and that if anything goes wrong then they should know where they can get help from.

 

Fees are a major agenda within the publication and again calls for all agents’ fees must be fully transparent. It aims to stamp out unreasonable practices, overcharging and making sure that any would be tenants are told exactly what fees they will incur before signing up.

The government’s £1billion Build to Rent Fund of which there are at present 45 potential schemes and it’s £10billion backed guarantees to encourage more institutional investment into private rented sector, means there will be more choice and quality homes for tenants. It may also mean that landlords will become more competitive in pricing and standard of their properties.