The Government is to introduce regulations that will tackle the problems letting agents face in obtaining essential pooled client accounts, which can cause them major operating issues.

Safeagent, the UK’s largest not-for-profit accreditation scheme for lettings and management agents, has been lobbying for change for decades.

CEO Isobel Thomson (pictured), has hailed the Treasury’s decision to remove the link between pooled client adccounts and Simplified Due Diligence (SDD) in the money laundering regulations (MLRs) as a major breakthrough.

New requirements

New requirements for pooled client accouns will instead be included within the MLRs, allowing financial institutions to offer them under a wider set of circumstances than currently permitted under the SDD rules.

It had become such a serious problem that many new letting agencies found it impossible to open pooled client accounts and banks regularly closed the accounts of established letting agents, some of whom had been trading for decades, without any issues.

For some time we have tried raising this issue, so it is excellent news that Government is addressing it with commonsense measures.”

Thomson says: “For some time we have tried raising this issue, so it is excellent news that Government is addressing it with commonsense measures.

“For new firms, the inability to access a client account is a barrier to trade and is not conducive to a healthy market. For existing firms, when faced with issues regarding their client account, it can prove hugely time-consuming and stressful to resolve.

“What’s more, without a client account, agents cannot obtain or maintain inclusion under a Government-approved CMP scheme – and without CMP, they will be trading illegally. Local trading standards carry out spot checks and can impose fines of up to £30,000 on agents trading without CMP, so its importance cannot be underestimated.”