NALS approves select committee report

30 2008
The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) has expressed its satisfaction at the arrival of a government report into the UK's rented accommodation sector.

The response comes after a Department for Communities and Local Government committee claimed that 50,000 extra homes need to be built every year to satisfy demand and affordability.

The NALS has also thrown its weight behind the idea of regulating letting agents through best practice accreditation and the call for local authorities to use their powers more actively to improve the market.

Chair Caroline Pickering told About Property website: "We strongly believe local engagement is the most effective way of tackling rental problems.

"By encouraging streamlined working partnerships between local authorities, landlords and agents we can improve and maintain the property management standards of those in rented accommodation with the minimum of bureaucracy being introduced."

The committee also suggested that a minority of landlords were not fulfilling their duties to tenants, while there has also been concern about empty properties restricting the supply of housing.

Since January, renters using NALS agents have been able to capitalise on a partnership between the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) and NALS, allowing them to seek independent resolution to complaints.
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