Further regulation needed to improve the lettings industry
Through its casework, Housing Rights Service has identified the many difficulties and issues relating to the management practice of letting agencies. We remain to be convinced that the many problems encountered with the lettings industry will be solved by simply encouraging letting agents and landlords to become better informed and equipped to comply with existing consumer protection legislation. We believe greater regulation is necessary to raise professional standards and improve the reputation of the lettings industry in Northern Ireland.
Housing Rights Service believes that the evidence from a mystery shopping survey of letting agents, conducted in March 2013, supports this call for greater regulation and, in particular, that no upfront charges should be imposed on private tenants for functions which are part of the routine letting and landlord management process as is the current position in Scotland.
We believe there is also a need to clarify the scope and effectiveness of existing legislation (the Commission on Disposals of Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1986) which relates to the charging of ‘commission’ by letting agents in Northern Ireland.
Guidance
We believe the impact of the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) ‘Guidance for lettings professionals’ needs to be monitored and evaluated and close liaison should be developed with the Housing Division of the Department for Social Development (DSD) if problems continue to exist with the operation of the lettings industry in Northern Ireland
Although the draft guidance document is 110 pages long, we appreciate this initiative on the part of the OFT to clarify how the law applies to property letting and the practical steps that can be taken by lettings professionals to comply with consumer protection legislation. However, we believe that the legal framework, as presently stands, will not provide adequate protection for vulnerable tenants in the largely unregulated lettings market in Northern Ireland. Be that as it may, we welcome the provision of this detailed guidance and look forward to working with OFT, DSD and Trading Standards in Northern Ireland for greater consumer protection in private rented accommodation.