The Government has proposed an eleventh hour amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill which should provide better protection for landlords and tenants against rogue letting agents.

Housing Minister Mark Prisk tabled the amendment in reaction to changes made to the Bill in the House of Lords, which would have given letting agents the same level of regulation as estate agents. Instead the government proposes to oblige letting agents to belong to an approved redress scheme, or Ombudsman, which will give landlords and tenants an avenue for dealing with complaints when they arise.

Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation, said: “The Housing Minister has listened to the sector’s representations and reached the right conclusion. Clearly this is an eleventh-hour amendment to a Bill that is not about housing in scope; as such there is a limit to what can be realistically achieved.

“Independent review of a complaint by an Ombudsman is good practice already pursued by many agents, and it is excellent that all tenants and landlords should now have access to such schemes. There are still issues left on the table, however, and we should not kid ourselves that this will expunge the sector of bad letting agents. For example, we will continue to campaign to have client money protection insurance extended so that money paid over by landlords and tenants to an agent is properly accounted for and is not at risk.“

Chris Norris, Head of Policy at the National Landlords Association (NLA), also commented: “The Housing Minister’s announcement that the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will be used to provide a basis for future, specialised regulation of letting agency standards is very welcome as it will provide the best means to ensure that landlords and tenants who choose to use professional letting services receive adequate protection.

“The NLA looks forward to working with the Government throughout the forthcoming industry consultation to make sure that any regulation implemented encourages professionalism, provides financial protection and aids the development of a healthy and sustainable private-rented sector.”