This week, the RICS called on the Government to introduce an online database of good and bad tenants, to replace the referencing service for which letting agents currently charge tenants.

The proposal would mean that agents would not necessarily have to pass the charge on to landlords.

However, an online database of tenants is not an original idea. We have found two examples – and there may be more.

TenantVet already does exactly what RICS seems to be asking: http://www.tenantvet.co.uk/

It is available to all landlords, letting agents, housing associations and tenants in the UK, and is a completely free service to all users.

Sean Kearns, of TenantVet, said that data protection is a potential problem with such a system, as is libel.

He said: “In our opinion TenantVet is the only online tenant referencing website that is fully compliant with Data Protection laws.

“We have sought and obtained Queen’s Counsel opinion and on our website we have summarised this on the How TenantVet Works page.”

It appears to be a very simple system: landlords and/or agents are asked one question – “Would you let to this person again?”

If the answer is ‘yes’, there are no further questions. If the answer is ‘no’, the agent or landlord can tick one or more of five questions:

• whether the tenant defaulted on the payment terms
• whether the tenant assigned or sub-let the property
• whether the tenant left the property in a poor condition
• whether the tenant made illegal or immoral use of the property
• whether police or local authority intervention was required

Landlords and agents are not asked for any comments, and tenants are given the right of reply on the site – although they cannot change the landlord or agent’s entry.

Tenants can also self-register on TenantVet and ask their previous landlords/letting agents to comment on their renting history.

The service makes its money through the sale of products such as insurances and EPCs but there is no obligation to make any purchase.

A rather different type of service can be found here: http://www.landlordreferencing.co.uk/lifestyle-tenant-referencing/

This offers tenant histories to landlords and agents who join Tenant Referencing UK. The service has been in existence for seven years, and claims to have 157,000 subscribers who are told, for example, whether a prospective tenant is a drug user or illegal immigrant.

CEO Paul Routledge said: “The service is fully ICO compliant as well as FCA registered. The system complies because it does not pass on any sensitive data, instead putting (verified) landlords and agents in touch with each other to find out what their applicant tenant is really like.”

Yesterday, we reported on the RICS’s proposals. You can now find the full details on the RICS website here