The Government have announced new measures to make Client Money Protection (CMP) mandatory for all letting agents across England, a move long overdue for an industry where there are currently billions of pounds of deposits which may not be properly protected.

What is Client Money Protection?

Agents who belong to a Client Money Protection scheme ensure that money paid by customers which needs to be held, is kept separately from operating funds. This means that in the event of an agent having financial difficulties and going under or other rare money handling issues, a claim can be made directly to the CMP scheme and no money is lost.

Why has it taken until now to make it mandatory?

This announcement has been a result of a campaign which has lasted for over two years led by ARLA (The Association of Residential Letting Agents), Baroness Hayter and Lord Palmer, so it is very much an outcome that has been sought by the industry.

Professional agents have been protecting their customers’ funds for years. Regent are a member of UKALA and so we do protect deposits, as well as being a member of the MYDeposits scheme, where we pay insurance to protect tenant funds.

This legislation is most welcome, because it’s a step towards a more equal and regulated lettings industry – a benefit for professional agents who have been setting this standard for years, and hopefully this will now be at the forefront of people’s minds when they are considering the lettings industry.

All landlords and tenants should ask their agents if they are members of a scheme regulator, but we very rarely get asked for any details of how we protect our clients’ money!

If you would like to talk to a member of the team about how we make sure our clients’ money is protected, please give us a call on 020 8743 9101