Not yet…
However, we have seen the government step in recently to protect the public with replacing the Property Misdescriptions Act with wider consumer protection in the form of CPRs.
Currently letting agents are not externally regulated and not required to have professional indemnity. The level of potential risk this puts tenants, land lords and property owners under is not lost on the government. Some commentators believe it is only a matter of time before regulation and mandatory insurance arrives.
Property agents have had a very wide scope to set up shop and run without insurances, especially when you compare them to surveyors, accountants, solicitors, IFAs, architects and so on. All of these professionals are subject to regulation and/or required to have professional indemnity.
There are many self regulating professional bodies: ARLA, RICS, NAEA , however 40% are still not members of any professional body.
In an environment of shifting liabilities and increased scrutiny of property agents it is not inconceivable to see landlords, house buyers, sellers, tenants and, perhaps, even the government start asking questions about whether an agent is regulated and whether they have the necessary insurances in place to protect their customers.
