NALS WELCOMES INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET BY PROFESSIONAL BODIES

26 July, 2007

Caroline Pickering, chair of the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) has welcomed the announcement from the former director general of the Office of Fair Trading, Sir Bryan Carsberg, that he will chair an independent review of the residential property sector at the instigation of the professional bodies ARLA, RICS and NAEA on self-regulation:

“We are wholly supportive of the lettings industry working towards a coherent approach to self-regulation, rather than going down the route of costly and lengthy licensing legislation.
 
“As an independent Government backed accreditation scheme for lettings and management agents operating in the private rented sector, NALS offers a single kitemark for the consumer to look for and be assured of the service they will receive. We are perfectly placed to make a valuable contribution to the report and clearly support its aims.

“Accreditation is key to self-regulating the industry, it is the low cost option offering all agents the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to the consumer and raise standards. We look forward to engaging with Sir Bryan at the earliest opportunity.”
 
Launched in 1999 with the support of ARLA, NAEA and RICS the Scheme has 1500 current members and growing. NALS was set up as a benchmark for the standards of service any letting agent could achieve in meeting its strict accreditation criteria.  Government support and confidence in the scheme led to significant funding being made available to establish NALS until it could become self-funding at the beginning of 2006.

The National Accredited Letting Scheme is the vehicle by which firms can demonstrate that they are committed to meeting clearly defined service standards.  Given the strong results of a recent customer service audit independently carried out by Nottingham Trent University among landlords and tenants who deal with our accredited firms, we are confident that NALS is firmly established as an alternative to licensing for agents in the private rented sector in the UK,” concluded Pickering.

 


For more information on Tenancy Deposit Schemes, look up www.communities.gov.uk and for more information on NALS, look up www.nalscheme.co.uk


Notes to editor

There are three Government approved scheme administrators:

  • Computershare Investor Services plc will run the single custodial deposit scheme, with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators providing the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service. www.depositprotection.com
  • The Dispute Service Limited will run an insurance-based scheme directed primarily at letting agents. It will also run the scheme’s ADR service. www.tds.gb.com
  • Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited will run an insurance-based scheme, sponsored by the National Landlords Association and administered by Hamilton Fraser Insurance, which will be directed primarily at landlords. The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators will be the principal provider of ADR to the scheme. www.landlords.org.uk or www.mydeposits.co.uk
About NALS

NALS is backed by the Government and leading professional bodies and is the most reliable benchmark for landlords and tenants to compare the standards of service they receive from residential lettings agents. All members of the scheme offer client money protection cover, maintain professional indemnity insurance and operate professional customer complaints procedures. For more information visit www.nalscheme.co.uk

The National Approved Letting Scheme board comprises:

Caroline Pickering (Chair), representatives from RICS, ARLA and NAEA who are Directors of the Scheme, alongside representatives from DCLG, the BPF and the Housing Corporation.

For further press information please contact:
 Isobel Thomson, Operations Director, NALS, on 01242 581712
Contact Kate Groves at Splash Communications
T: 01225 348006 E: kgroves@splashcommunications.com