Councils are being offered a new tool to root out rogue letting agents.

The National Approved Letting Scheme has created an ‘effective enforcement toolkit’ to walk local authority enforcement officers step-by-step through the legalities and requirements for regulating letting agents.

The NALS toolkit includes warning letters to letting agents who are failing to comply with legal duties, advice on serving civil penalties and even advice on highlighting enforcement action to the local media.

The kit highlights rules such as the requirement to belong to a government approved redress scheme, the display of fees and the power to issue civil penalties of up to £5,000 on agents that don’t comply.

It follows a survey in September 2015 by NALS which found that while 84% of local authorities had taken some steps to promote new requirements for letting agents, only 16% had issued any civil penalties for failure to comply with redress scheme membership, and less than half (46%) had sent any warning letters to agents.

Isobel Thomson, chief executive of NALS, said: “More and more of us are choosing to live in privately rented housing, but public opinion of the private rented sector remains mixed. When an agent’s service is not up to scratch, landlords and tenants have every right to complain – but they need to know where to go and what their rights are.

“Only by raising standards across the sector can we start to tackle the small minority whose rogue activities tarnish our reputation. This toolkit is designed to be a ‘one stop shop’ for local authorities working with the private rented sector. They are, after all, in the enforcement front line.

“Working together, we help to make living in the private rented sector a positive experience.”