20 March, 2008

On Tuesday evening NALS (National Approved Letting Scheme) and the OEA (Ombudsman for Estate Agents) hosted a reception at the House of Lords. Lord Borrie QC, Chairman of the OEA welcomed Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Wright cited the private rented sector as a key priority for him in his role and portrayed himself as a champion of the sector and expressed his commitment to ensuring the industry is kept at the top of his office’s political agenda. He said: “The economy would grind to a halt without this private sector.”

The Minister said he wanted to see good landlords incentivised and less scrupulous landlords penalised. Accreditation is the way to achieve this. He said he was supportive of the work of NALS and the OEA and its new agreement which enables tenants and landlords across the UK to benefit from fast and free and independent resolution of disputes with lettings agencies across the UK.

Caroline Pickering, Chair of NALS, agreed with Iain Wright’s call for the sector to embrace accreditation and said: “With the recently announced Government review of the private rented sector, we believe the industry needs to focus on promoting and raising awareness for the highly regarded and reputable accreditation schemes already in place to encourage more people to aspire to best practice.”

Caption: Outside the House of Lords before the joint NALS / OEA reception are, left to right, Christopher Hamer, Ombudsman for Estate Agents, Isobel Thomson, operations director for NALS, Lord Borrie, Chairman of the OEA Council , Caroline Pickering, chair of NALS, and Bill McClintock, Chairman of the Board, OEA.