Letting agents letting tenants down, according to survey

Nearly half of tenants (47%) do not trust letting agents to protect their interests, according to a new survey by the UK’s largest online tenant portal, The Tenants’ Voice. 
 
Just over half of those polled (52%) feel that letting agents do the bare minimum to provide services in line with the duty of care they owe to tenants, while more than a quarter (28%) believe agents do not provide them with a suitable duty of care.
 
Letting agents are supposed to be reliable professionals, guiding landlords through the responsibilities and obligations of renting property to tenants, yet the survey of 1,100 UK tenants revealed that two thirds (64%) prefer to rent directly from a landlord.
 
Worryingly, nearly a third of respondents (32%) had never heard of any of the main letting agent schemes that exist to protect tenants, while over a quarter of tenants (27%) say they do not know how to recognise a good letting agent.
 
The Ombudsman Services have the greatest awareness amongst tenants (21%), while the National Approved Letting Scheme has the least (3%). Just 12% of tenants had heard of ARLA, and 9% know about RICS.
 
On a more positive note, almost three quarters (73%) of respondents polled by The Tenants’ Voice agreed that the ‘right’ letting agent can improve the renting experience.
 
Glenn Nickols, founder of The Tenants’ Voice, said: “What’s clearly lacking in the relationship between tenants and letting agents is trust. In some cases it’s there, but in many more it’s not. Given the vast number of people who rent these days, the fact that nearly half do not feel like their interests are being protected by agents should make the industry sit up.
 
“More needs to be done to drive awareness of the various schemes that exist to protect tenants’ interests, too. Many tenants are having to find their way in the dark and the industry often appears happy for them to do so.”
 
Separately, The Tenants’ Voice has launched The Tenants’ Voice Approved, a free but exclusive membership for letting agents, in a bid to shake up the industry, and ensure a better rental experience for tenants and landlords.