Housing Rights Service has responded to a consultation exercise carried out by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on draft guidance for lettings professionals. We welcome this initiative as we have identified through our casework many difficulties and issues relating to the management practice of letting agencies. Nevertheless 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 and look forward to working with OFT, DSD and Trading Standards in Northern Ireland for greater tenant protection in private rented accommodation.
