ARLA reaction to NLA recommendations for a landlords register

On the National Landlord’s Association recommendations for a national landlord register, Ian Potter, operations manager of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), comments:

“Protection for the consumer is paramount - ARLA launched its own licensing scheme for letting agents earlier in the year for this very reason. Exploitation of vulnerable tenants by a small minority of landlords undermines the professionalism of the broader sector and creates the negative consumer perceptions that have sometimes blighted the rental market."

“Consumer awareness is central to the success of both the NLA and ARLA’s endeavours in this area; as we found with our own research, 95 per cent of consumers were unaware that you need absolutely no qualifications to be a lettings agent. As the body representing the UK’s licensed lettings agents, ARLA would offer strong backing for a database of landlords – another important step in ensuring that the nation’s tenants are protected from bad practice and that consumer awareness is raised.”