New rental standards will help to protect London’s tenants

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, launched London’s first rental standard in May of this year. A new set of rules and regulations has been laid out with the aim of raising the quality and standard of rental properties for tenants in London, enabling people to enjoy a higher standard of living in the capital.

Landlords who meet the expectations of the new London Rental Standards enforced will be awarded a badge allowing tenants to identify them as a transparent, high quality and reliable property management agent. Seven landlord accreditation schemes are brought together in this initiative and it’s already proven itself as very effective. Over a quarter of homes in London are rented, and this is predicted to rise to nearly half in the next ten years so it is crucial that these measures are in place to help future generations with their accommodation requirements.

Letting agents and landlords will now agree on significant core commitments such as better property conditions, a higher standard of property management, transparent fees, better communication, improved response times for maintenance and protected deposits. This is the first time that professional standards such as these have been introduced for the whole sector. A whopping 100,000 letting agents and landlords are expected to become accredited with the London Rental Standard by 2016, ensuring that people who rent in London are protected legally and provided with safe, well maintained accommodation.

The mayor has stated that because of the increase in London’s workforce and young families renting their homes, it’s vital that this sector is not overlooked and the right kind of support is given. This standardisation helps to improve the experience by all involved in the process, both tenant and landlord, and ensures that there is a clear set of good practice rules. Large sums of money are currently being invested into more homes that are specifically for rent, helping hard working Londoners find the homes that they need and ensuring that they can trust their landlords to take care of their interests and offer a completely honest and transparent service. We believe that all renting tenants in every borough from Hackney to Sutton should be entitled to quality, safe accommodation and a responsible service from their landlords, and are hopeful that this scheme will help to achieve that.