Housing: Letting and Managing Agents

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Excerpts

Tuesday 28th March 2017 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make membership of a client money protection scheme mandatory for letting and managing agents.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, for their time and commitment to the client money protection review. I am pleased to announce that the Government intend to make client money protection mandatory in line with the recommendation of the review chaired by the noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Palmer of Childs Hill. This will ensure that every agent is offering the same level of protection, giving tenants and landlords the financial protection that they deserve. The Government will consult on how mandatory client money protection should be implemented and enforced.

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

Well, that has taken the wind out of my sails. Will the Minister accept my thanks? The House will recall that we put into the Housing and Planning Act the reserve power to do this but at that point the Government were not quite convinced. However, as the Minister said, along with the noble Lord, Lord Palmer, we did the report, and the recommendation was published only yesterday. Today’s news is really good for tenants and landlords. It means that if any letting agent goes bust or makes off, the client’s money is safe. I hope the Minister will accept my thanks.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I certainly will. That was a typically gracious response from the noble Baroness. It was a very well-reasoned report. Many people had been called to give evidence, so it was very strongly evidence-based. As I say, we will be consulting on implementation and enforcement. I am sure that we can talk about it in the meantime.