Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.
Fees Missing from a Third of Letting Agent Websites, Research Finds
More than a third of lettings agent websites carry no information about fees, according to new research. The analysis, carried out by website group ThemeSmith, looked at the sites of 400 lettings and property management companies in England on 19th October.
It found 138 companies, or 34.5%, had no fees page, no link to one and no mention of fees anywhere. A wider group of 151 companies, or 37.8%, did not display fees for tenants or landlords with a pound amount and VAT included.
Legal Duty Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
Lettings agents in England must display a list of their fees, inclusive of VAT, at any office where they deal with clients face to face and on their website. The duty sits in section 83 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
The same list must state whether the agent holds client money protection and name its redress scheme. Local authorities enforce the requirement, with a maximum penalty of £5,000 per breach. A national agent can be fined at each non-compliant office.
Certificates and Redress
The research also found 99 lettings agents did not name a redress scheme and 123 named no client money protection scheme. Of the 277 that did name a protection scheme, 101 published no copy of the certificate.
ThemeSmith says the findings record only what it could find on the pages it read, and are not a finding that any company has broken the rules. It did not name any agents.
What Agents Need to Do
Chris Painter, founder of ThemeSmith, said: “A letting agent’s website is usually the first place a landlord or tenant goes to check whether their money is safe. The rules already say what has to be there: the fees with VAT included, the redress scheme, and a copy of the client money protection certificate.”
He added: “This isn’t about catching anyone out. Most of the gaps we found can be fixed in an afternoon: upload the certificate, add a fee table that shows VAT, and name the redress scheme in the footer. Until that’s done, a tenant or landlord has to take the agent’s word for it instead of being able to check.”
Source: The Negotiator