Posted:30-June-2008
Carsberg - Martin & Co franchise welcome lettings recommendations
Martin & Co has moved swiftly to respond to the Carsberg Report issued earlier this month. “As the UK’s leading lettings brand, we welcome the review, and in particular the aspiration to raise standards throughout the sector,” said Managing Director Ian Wilson.
“The UK private rented sector is experiencing sustained long term growth so it’s good news that the report gives equal weight to its recommendations for the regulation of letting agents,” he added.
The report was commissioned (in July 2007) by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents). As a result of the independent review of the residential property sector a series of recommendations have been made with particular emphasis on the scope and extent of standards, regulation and redress.
Martin & Co already work closely with regulatory bodies. As a franchise operation, for example, it is bound by the strict ethical code of the British Franchise Association (bfa). It is also the largest user of the Deposit Protection Service. “Increased regulation will make it far more difficult for rogue traders to continue operating, which can only help to improve the image of the sector as a whole,” said Wilson.
At the same time, he added, Martin & Co sees greater regulation as being of direct benefit to its own business. “By making life more challenging for new entrants into the business, the attractions of taking a franchise - where all the systems and processes are tried and tested, and the pool of specialist knowledge and experience already exists – are all the greater.”
Wilson did, however, question whether the public really understood the role of the various regulatory bodies that exist currently, and their functions within the sector. “If the full benefit of greater regulation is to reaped by both the industry and the general public, then it must be accompanied by a programme of public information, and focus must be on consumer protection and not the defence of narrow professional interests,” he insisted.
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