The property industry has been bombarded with warnings about the looming Renters’ Rights Act and the plethora of much-publicised red tape it will introduce.

But there is one consequence of the legislation that is not so clear; who will ‘police’ the free classified platforms like Facebook and Gumtree where thousands of rental properties are advertised every week by both agents, landlords and increasingly scammers too.

Industry-wise, the big portals that agents use have for many months been getting ready to enforce the new marketing rules the Renters’ Rights Act requires including a unique property reference number and compliant wording when referring to pets, families and those on benefits.

They are already the favoured places for scammers, fake landlords and dodgy lettings agents.”

But what about the classified advertising platforms used by the public and many agents and landlords? They are already the favoured places for scammers, fake landlords and dodgy lettings agents to ensnare unwary tenants because they are not informally or formally overseen in the same way Rightmove or Zoopla are.

So, I wondered, are Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree getting ready to ensure their rental property ads comply with the law after 1st May?

No response

After putting in a request to Facebook, no response was forthcoming although Gumtree did reply. Its Head of Digital Trust & Safety Joseph Rindsland told me that “Gumtree prioritises the safety of our community and takes rental fraud extremely seriously.

“We provide clear guidance to help renters identify genuine adverts, including reviewing trust signals such as a landlord’s profile history, account age, and user ratings,” he said.

We provide clear guidance to help renters identify genuine adverts.”

“We also encourage users to view properties in person, verify legal paperwork and ownership, avoid handing over deposits under pressure, ensure deposits are placed in a government‑approved scheme, and report any suspicious ads or messages directly to us.

“We are committed to complying with the Renters’ Rights Act, including the introduction of landlord identifiers within property adverts, once implementation details are finalised.

“We support measures that improve transparency and help make the rental market safer and fairer for everyone.”

This is good news and could spell the end of fake landlords or letting agents taking tenants for a ride, although it is disappointing that Facebook appears uninterested in this topic.

Two-tier

And unless Facebook and the many other classfied ‘market places’ in the UK follow Gumtree’s example, then it will create a two-tier marketing environment that will see ads on Rightmove, Zoopla, OTM and Gumtree being compliant while those on Facebook may not be.

This would be a repeat of the ongoing trend both at national and local levels, which sees compliant landlords and letting agents carry the can for their non-compliant counterparts. For example, only a few dozen estate agents and landlords face financial penalties or end up being prosecuted every year for non-compliance, and even fewer are expelled by The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress from their schemes.

Many ‘under the radar’ operators feel they are unlikely to face the consequences of their criminal activities.”

All this means many ‘under the radar’ operators feel they are unlikely to face the consequences of their criminal activities, and unsurprisingly Generation Rent recently reported that rental scams are on the increase.

Despite this rental property scams have rarerly been debated in parliament nor has there been a recent housing minister stirred to pass comment on the practice or take action – most of them (regardless of their political hue) are more interested in ‘rogue landlords’ who operate poor quality homes or flout licensing scheme rules.

So unless there is a change in direction here, my view is that the Renters’ Rights Act will force the dodgy agents, landlords and rental scammers even more underground, and advertising channels that don’t implement the Act’s rules on marketing rental properties will continue to unwittingly give them a platform.