Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what checks are required, if any, before a letting agency is admitted to a government approved property redress scheme or tenancy deposit protection scheme; whether they consider those checks are sufficient to prevent fraudulent operators from obtaining accreditation; and whether they plan to introduce additional verification requirements.

Letting agents and property managers in England are required to belong to a government-approved redress scheme. Landlords or agents who take a deposit in relation to an assured periodic tenancy must protect it in a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme. Membership of a scheme and protection of a deposit is a requirement of trading, rather than a wider accreditation of an agent’s conduct or legitimacy

The Government recognises the harm caused when fraudulent operators misuse legitimate schemes. Following recent cases, the Department has worked with tenancy deposit protection providers to strengthen safeguards, including adding a fraud disclaimer to insured deposit protection certificates, enhancing tenant communications about tenancy fraud, and reviewing verification and due diligence checks

We are actively working with National Trading Standards, redress schemes and other approved government schemes to consider whether further verification requirements are needed. My department is also exploring options for further regulation of the property agent sector.