The Mayor of London has launched the U.K. capital’s first ever rental standard, a city-wide badge of accreditation that aims to help millions of Londoners rent property with confidence, and to give the city’s 300,000 landlords peace of mind that they are complying with the law and doing the right thing.
The London Rental Standard brings together seven existing landlord accreditation schemes, which will operate under a single framework. The badge will be awarded to all landlords and letting agents who meet a set of significant core commitments set by the Mayor. These outline a minimum level of service that renters should expect including transparent fees, better property conditions, better communication between landlords and tenants, improved response times for repairs and maintenance, and protected deposits.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson (pictured as the launch), said: “With more of London’s workforce and young families living in rented homes, this growing sector is vital to meeting this capital’s housing needs and must not be overlooked.
“This standard aims to improve the experience of everyone involved, from landlord to tenant, with a clear set of good practice rules.
“Alongside this we are investing huge sums in more homes specifically to rent, and helping Londoners who want to buy into low cost home ownership, as well as a raft of other measures to help provide the homes hard working Londoners need.”
More than a quarter of London’s households live in rented homes, with numbers predicted to rise to around 40 percent by the mid-2020s. Reports suggest that 85 percent of landlords are not aware of core legislation that protects renters, and 61 percent have no professional management training.
The standard is the latest part of the Mayor’s comprehensive strategy for the private rented sector, which includes a new target to build U.S.-style purpose-built rented homes, as part of efforts to increase supply and boost quality.
A significant public awareness campaign also launches this week to encourage landlords and letting agents to sign up to the London Rental Standard, and the Mayor has set a target to accredit 100,000 landlords and agents by 2016.
The Mayor hopes the London Rental Standard will become an instantly recognisable feature of London’s lettings industry, helping Londoners to pick between the huge array of landlords and agents on offer in the capital.
The full London Rental Standard can from downloaded at: http://www.london.gov.uk/landlords.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group,
wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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