MD Nick Cooper explains why Northwood supports Propertymark Awareness Week:
“Landlords and tenants place a huge amount of trust in letting agents – after all, deposits and rents add up to a hefty sum of money. However, headlines of rogue agents absconding with money suggest that too many of us don’t choose our letting agent carefully enough.
The Government has recently taken steps to protect consumers by introducing secondary legislation making it mandatory for letting agents to belong to an ombudsman scheme with an appropriate complaints procedure. However, this does not guarantee that deposits or rents are protected so your finances could still be at risk.
One way to ensure that your finances are protected is to look out for the Propertymark logo. Propertymark is a national campaign, supported by the Government, which signposts letting agents which subscribe to a Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme. This means that in the unlikely event that a letting agent does go bankrupt or shuts up shop, the necessary insurance is in place so that landlords’ and tenants’ deposits and rents are returned.
Northwood is proud to be a founder firm behind the Propertymark initiative and has provided practical and financial support in establishing the mark. Since its launch in 2011, more than 2,000 letting have signed up to Propertymark and has received support from the Government, as well as high profile organisations including Citizens Advice Bureaux, Shelter, Ombudsman Services: Property, The Property Ombudsman, and Trading Standards Institute.”
For more information about Propertymark visit www.Propertymark.co.uk and watch this short video below:
Propertymark in 2 minutes
Article courtesy of Northwood Blog
