London Trading Standards issue £370k fines to letting agents in three months
Trading Standards departments in London have issued fines amounting to around £370,000 to lettings agents in the last three months alone, it has emerged.
The fines followed recent visits to agents as well as breaches identified on agents’ websites.
News of the crackdown emerged during London Trading Standards Week, which runs from 25-29 September.
London Trading Standards said: “Letting agents must display their fees, and other relevant information, in their branches and online so that prospective tenants and landlords know exactly what they’re paying from the outset when entering into a rental agreement. While most agents fully comply with legal requirements, those that don’t can face a fine of up to £5,000 per offence.
“As well as being against the law, when this information isn’t made available upfront it can often lead to a costly and unwelcome surprise for the consumer, tarnishing the reputation of the rented sector as a whole.”
Martin Harland, lead officer and Chair for London Trading Standards (LTS) Letting Agents Working Group and Principal Officer at Camden Council, said: “We won’t allow letting agents flouting the law to get away with it. It’s simply not fair to the consumer or the substantial part of the letting industry who go out of their way to do things right. If you want to be a letting agent the message is clear; you must comply with the law.”
Trading Standards has been working with the lettings industry, including the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS), to improve standards.
NALS has developed an online training course focusing on effective enforcement against agents who do not display fees or their membership of a redress or client money protection scheme. This follows the roll out of NALS’ Enforcement Toolkit last year, which worked with local authorities to offer a step-by-step guide to the legalities and requirements of regulating letting agents.
Isobel Thomson, NALS CEO, said: “Trading Standards play a vital enforcement role in the lettings landscape, ensuring agents trade fairly and consumers are protected. We are delighted that London has taken a lead in increasing their activity and raising awareness so that rogue agents should not simply slip under the radar”.
Earlier this month Camden Council successfully appealed to the Upper Tribunal against a leading estate agency, Foxtons, using the term ‘administration fees’ in their lettings agency work.
