As a regulated member of ARLA Propertymark I am delighted to report that last week the government announced measures to make Client Money Protection (CMP) mandatory for all letting agents across England. The announcement comes in response to ARLA Propertymark’s long running campaign to ensure that tenants and landlords receive greater protection. ARLA Propertymark has been fighting tirelessly for some time alongside Baroness Hayter and Lord Palmer. Working together they have managed to convince the Government of the merit of compulsory CMP. It’s a campaign that’s taken over two years to come to fruition and is a clear step forward towards a more regulated industry; similar to others such as solicitors or travel agents. CMP safeguards landlords and tenants in the event that agents misappropriate their money. Baroness Hayter, who has championed the measure said: “The working group, chaired by Lord Palmer and myself, looked carefully at whether CMP should be mandatory for all agents handling client money. The evidence was overwhelming, and we recommended the government use its reserve powers to implement this. We are therefore delighted that the Government has accepted our recommendation as it will ensure tenants and landlords alike are provided with extra security in the lettings process”. CMP is already in place amongst regulated members of ARLA Propertymark but sadly when a landlord or tenant uses an unregulated agent their money is simply not protected given they are unregulated. Hence last week’s news will come as a great relief for both tenants and Landlords alike and regulated agents will welcome this too given they are often tarnished with the same brush when an unscrupulous agent rides off into the sunset with a tenants deposit with nothing to stop them from closing down and opening up in another area and doing the same thing to another unsuspecting tenant or landlord. Regulating the industry is something that is well overdue and much needed for the protection of both tenants and Landlords and this small but significant step means finally the government are listening to us.
For more information go to www.arla.co.uk