ARLA
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Features
Circle of trust
The property industry has a new, potential disrupter, nudging into its circle of trust, which could be wonderful, but, Andrea Kirkby asks, how many organisations do we really need?
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NAEA, ARLA and NAVA ‘rebrand’ as Propertymark
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers (NAVA) have jointly relaunched themselves as Propertymark in a move designed to raise awareness about standards within the industry. All three organisations have changed their names and added Propertymark to their logos as of today. A new website is live at: www.propertymark.co.uk. Agents who qualify to be in the scheme and display the Propertymark Protected logo in their branch window must sign up to a range of regulatory, financial and insurance standards, the three organisations say. This will include participation in a branded client money protection scheme, having properly and regularly trained staff regularly updated on legislative change and best practice, adhering to a code of practice, submitting independently audited accounts each year, being a member of a redress scheme and holding professional indemnity insurance. At present customers don’t know where to go for advice or can’t be sure if they are dealing with a professional. We are changing this.” Agents in most areas of the UK are already Propertymark Protected approved including in London Winkworth, Bairstowe Eves, Pedder, Gales, Cooper Giles, James Alexander, Galloways, Beresford International, Douglas & Gordon…
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62% of letting agents say ban will reduce rental property quality
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has come out fighting on the fees ban, saying it opposes a total ban and that fess should instead be spread out over the first six months of the tenancy. It also says a ban is likely to have shocking consequences for the industry, tenants, landlords and the wider economy. ARLA has also completed research that it says shows 42% of letting agents think their headcount will reduce following a total ban, while 62% of the 1008 agents it canvassed think a ban will prompt a reduction in rental property quality, and 61% believe property management standards will drop. The research also reveals that letting agents “overwhelmingly” believe that rents will rise if a total ban is introduced, as they will “need to recoup the costs it takes to undertake the important jobs that fees currently cover [and] pass these on to landlords”, the research says. Agents spend eight hours on average completing the tasks needed to prepare a tenancy agreement including completing credit checks and collecting references, ARLA says. ARLA also claims that spreading the cost of fees to tenants over six months would make tenancies more affordable, enable agents to maintain…
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80% of agents say rents will rise after fees ban
Eight out of ten letting agents expect the tenant fees ban to be passed on as increased rents while reduced supply and increased demand will also contribute to upward pressure on rents, says the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). It canvassed 917 of its members over the past two weeks and found that 53% also expected to see increased competition for rental property during 2017 and 63% said there would be a drop in the number of privately rented properties available within the market. “I manage around a dozen properties for one of my clients and I spoke to her recently about the tenant fees ban,” says Brighton letting agent David Burt. “She made it clear to me that she wasn’t going to pay extra for the referencing or any of the other costs associated with acquiring tenants for her properties that tenants normally pay, so I’m going to have to consider putting up the rent so that my percentage management fee rises instead. Otherwise I’ll be working harder for less money.” ARLA says the recent increase in Stamp Duty for landlords and the reductions in personal tax and capital gains tax allowances are pushing up costs for landlords before…
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Controversial rental property licensing scheme is ‘raising standards’, it is claimed
Liverpool’s citywide rental property licensing scheme is helping improve standards within the city just seven months after it began, Liverpool City Council has claimed. It says anti-social behaviour in ‘targeted’ streets has dropped following the introduction of the scheme, which requires landlords or their agents to manage anti-social behaviour within the properties. Errants tenants have to be given warnings about their conduct and, where necessary, licence holders must start legal proceedings against them or end their tenancies. The scheme has attracted several critics, who claim that the licence application form is in breach of the Data Protection Act and that landlords who join the scheme can be prosecuted for non-compliance in relatively grey areas of responsibility, particularly when dealing with anti-social behaviour, and that it requires landlords agents to ‘spy’ on tenants. The most vocal of these is Larry Sweeney who, in conjunction with website Property118.com, has attacked the ‘sham scheme’ for its failings including its rules on evictions. Sweeney claims the scheme’s rules contravene Section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015 concerning the period after which a Section 21 notice can be served. “The scheme has drawn a lot of comment and challenges but taking the wider view of different stakeholders, early evidence…
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Tenant fees ban will have an unintended consequence, Mr Hammond
Two senior figures within the lettings industry have said that the tenant fees ban announced by Philip Hammond in his Autumn statement is likely to make life more difficult for tenants, not easier. Martin Totty, CEO of HomeLet (pictured, left) and David Cox, MD of ARLA (pictured below), both told The Negotiator that they expect tenants to be asked for – and pay the costs of – providing their own references if a full ban is implemented. Totty, who heads up the UK’s largest referencing agency, says that while there is now uncertainty about what might happen to referencing after agents and landlords are prevented from passing on their cost to tenants, if this does happen renters should not “assume referencing is no longer their liability” if they want to secure a property. “This would be an unfortunate [and] unintended consequence of the announcement contained in the Autumn Statement,” he says. David Cox agrees, saying that if referencing agencies such as HomeLet are forced to find alternative business models, these companies will turn to tenants to pay the cost of checking their financial and rental track records. Cox says that if a full ban is introduced he believes agents will ask tenants for…
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Tenant fees ban could cover just ‘upfront’ charges, says ARLA
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says it believes the government may be considering banning only ‘upfront’ fees rather than implementing a total tenant fees ban. ARLA managing director David Cox (pictured) says he has had several meetings with Department of Communities and Local Government officials and says that so far, they are talking only about upfront fees. This, he says, would enable letting agents to spread the fees for services such as referencing, contract negotiation and paperwork preparation over the first months of a tenancy instead of before or at the point that the tenant moves in. “It’s what we’ve been advocating within the Private Rented Affordability and Security (PRAS) working group since June,” says Cox. The PRAS was set up in June by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to ‘explore options to reduce costs for tenants who access and move within the sector’. If ARLA gets its way then agents will be able to continue charging some elements of their current fees, although Cox says that even if it doesn’t and the government goes for a total ban, he believes ARLA can argue successfully for referencing fees to be excluded. “I’ve had several meetings with Shelter and they…
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‘Proptech and eviction laws are emboldening tenants’
The rise of proptech-led apps coupled to the introduction of regulation to prevent the worst kind of predatory evictions has emboldened tenants and is one reason why more are asking for rent reductions, says David Cox, ARLA’s Managing Director. Last week ARLA revealed that the percentage of tenants asking for rent reductions has increased from 2.1% to 3%, the highest proportion since ARLA began keeping records. Cox says the relationship between landlord and tenant is now more balanced. This, he says, is because the plethora of private rented sector data now available online via both the portals as well as new apps such as recently-launched Movebubble mean many tenants are now more aware of local rental prices and whether their rent is fair or not. “Tenants are looking around and if they see that similar properties nearby are available to rent for much less, they now feel secure enough in their tenancies to start the rental re-negotiation process with their landlord,” says Cox. He says that many tenants who had complained to their landlord in the past about the condition of their property and subsequently asked for a reduction in rent would have been open to a retaliatory eviction, but that now this has…
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Record number of tenants secure rent reductions
The number of people securing rent reductions rose to three percent of all tenants during August, the highest number since the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) began keeping records. “The rising cost of renting, especially in major cities such as London, is an ongoing issue in both the buying and letting market so it’s promising to see small steps towards better affordability for renters,” says David Cox, ARLA’s Managing Director (pictured, below). The rental renegotiation increase is a jump from 2.1% of all tenants in July and is a surprising blip among a set of otherwise strong figures for the sector released today by ARLA. This includes news that demand for private rented property rose to 37 prospective tenants registered at each branch, and that year-on-year the number of properties registered to let with each branch was up from 178 to 183 or nearly 3%. ARLA also asked its members about the Brexit vote and its effect on the lettings market and 72% of agents said rents have remained the same since the vote, while 63% said demand had remained the same (but 17% said rents had gone down). Some 67% of agents said supply had not changed. “Although…
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