Over 115,000 rented homes across London are now badged under the Mayor’s London Rental Standard, the capital’s first city-wide badge of accreditation to improve the experience of landlords and tenants.
Launched last May, the London Rental Standard now has 307 letting agent firms signed up and eight accrediting bodies licensed under the scheme. It has been adopted by 10 of the largest names in the lettings industry, including Spicerhaart (Haart and Felicity J Lord); Andrews; CBRE; Chestertons; Douglas and Gordon; Savills; Knight Frank; Leaders; Foxtons and Stirling Ackroyd.
Londoners either letting or renting through every London branch of these firms are assured that they, and every landlord or agent displaying the London Rental Standard badge, have met the Mayor’s set of core commitments and training levels to offer tenants a better, more professional service. These include transparent fees, better property conditions, better communications between landlords and tenants, improved response times and repairs, and protected deposits.
30% of London’s households now live in rented homes, and by the mid-2020s the number of renters is predicted to overtake the number of homeowners in the capital. In the last decade the number of families with children renting in London has risen 10% to almost a third. Yet 85% of landlords are not aware of core legislation that protects renters and 61% have no professional management training.
Boris Johnson said: “This enthusiastic take-up from agents across the capital is testament to the great success of our new and growing London Rental Standard scheme. With more and more of London’s workforce and young families now living in rented homes, this sector has a vital part to play in helping to meeting the capital’s housing needs. The Rental Standard is improving the experience of everyone involved with a clear code of good practice, and I encourage every agent, landlord and tenant to seek it out and sign up.”
The London Rental Standard is supported by a range of commercial partners including Endsleigh Insurance, MyDeposits the deposit protection scheme, and flat share site EasyRoommate.com. These supporters are offering discounts and incentives to landlords and agents to encourage them to sign up to the scheme and create a better rental sector.
It is also supported by all the lettings agent trade associations, ARLA, RICS, NALS and UKALA (UK Association of Lettings Agents), all of whom can provide letting agents with LRS accreditation.
David Cox, ARLA managing director, said: “We are a proud supporter of the London Rental Standard (LRS). This bold initiative is designed to raise professional standards in the capital’s private rented sector by providing a consistent benchmark of accreditation for consumers. ARLA believes in maintaining the highest professional standards in the sector and therefore fully supports the aims of the LRS. We have long campaigned for regulation of the private rented sector, and it is crucial we eliminate the small minority of unscrupulous landlords and agents who neglect their responsibilities and bring our industry into disrepute. We are proud to be working with the Mayor on this first step towards a more regulated industry.”