Housing campaigners claim that 80% of letting agents in one city look to be breaking the law.
The activists, members of the Home Sweet Home campaign, went undercover in Brighton and Hove.
They visited a total of 67 letting agents and found that 55 may be non-compliant.
The campaigners looked for compliance on deposit protection, membership of a redress scheme, and proper display of fees.
Only 12 out of the 67 branches were compliant on all three, and only 15 complied with the duty to display fees properly.
The campaigners will next target the agents by hand-delivered letter in two weeks’ time, reminding them of their legal duties.
The group will also issue Home Sweet Home certificates to the 12 agents that passed all three checks.
Comments (4)
80% of letting agents breaking the law. Is this news?
Interfering busybodies. How dare they!
Never heard of this campaign group before, but good for them and I hope they reach every town in the country. Of course, local authorities should be policing this and there should be no need for a campaign group at all.
Exactly. They appear to be doing just what trading standards should up to. Let’s hope that nobody actually expresses any surprise at their findings.