The Danger of Unqualified Letting Agents

Is your letting agent qualified to manage your properties and ensure you meet your obligations as a fit and proper landlord?

Let’s hope so, as the protection of tenants is a high profile cause for the Scottish Executive.

Time and time again, we discover when taking on new landlords properties that they are in breach of their obligations. For example, we came across 12 properties inherited from another agent with no gas safety certificates or EPC’s in place.

We have also taken over properties where tenants have been living with inadequate smoke alarms and the agent has no copy of the lease or inventory. This causes real issues for landlords at the end of a tenancy.

We run a robust training programme for all our staff with courses in ARLA and Letwell. In addition, we run quarterly training courses with keynote speakers such as Elspeth Boyle from Landlord Accreditation Scotland and Keith Denholm from Allied Surveyors.  And our extensive contact network means we have access to industry webinars that others don’t.

80% of our property staff are fully qualified with the remainder working their way through ARLA and Letwell qualifications. This is well above industry standard but we know it’s the right thing to do to ensure we are at the top of our game and have an office full of professionals.

Our team are qualified on due diligence and work hard to protect our landlords and tenants

Letting Agents are under increased pressure to clean up their act to provide a transparent well – regulated service to tenants and landlords. We believe this will drive out the unscrupulous letting agents.

Should you wish a full property health check then please get in touch with one of our experienced team who will be happy to offer you help and advice.

Here a few examples of issues we can help you with:

• Did you know landlords can be fined £50,000 for not being registered?
• Is your main income from your rented properties? If so, you need to be fully qualified or employ a qualified agent.
• Do you need help with First Tier Tribunal applications and knowing your rights as a landlord?

You can contact us in a number of ways, through our website, via email, or by calling us on: 0141 270 7878. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn where we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.