A kitemark-style scheme has been launched to reassure tenants and landlords worried about losing money handed over to a letting agent. All agents displaying the SAFEagent mark will already belong to a client money protection scheme operated by the National Approved Letting Scheme, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, the National Association of Estate Agents and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. These pay out in the event of the agent going bust or misappropriating money that has been handed over as a deposit or rent.

Membership is voluntary, but the government hopes promotion of the SAFEagent mark will encourage more to join. The SAFEagent scheme, established by the letting industry but supported by the government, has already registered more than 1,200 offices. Tenants and landlords can locate agents in their area who are registered with the scheme at its website.

Nick Cooper, chair of the SAFEagent steering group and managing director of letting agent Northwood, said: "We have robust procedures in place to make sure those signing up to the scheme have client money protection cover. The cover is annually renewable, and we know when each firm's renewal date is."
Several lettings agents have collapsed in the past few years, he said, resulting the loss of clients' money.

While the scheme will not stop disputes between tenants and landlords over the return of deposits, it should ensure anyone who uses a SAFEagent registered agent will not suffer loss as a result of their....Read more on this story-----> SAFEagent scheme aims to protect tenants and landlords | Money | guardian.co.uk


As if finding a property, saving for a deposit and passing credit and salary checks weren't enough for would-be homebuyers, lenders have thrown in a new issue: your solicitor. An increasing number of borrowers are finding that their lender will not work with the law firm they have chosen to do their conveyancing – a situation that is reducing consumer choice and can add costs, hassle and delay to the homebuying process. And the problem is likely to grow.
Mortgage lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few months big names such as Santander, Nationwide and Lloyds Banking Group have all reviewed and reduced those lists – in some cases removing solicitors who have worked with them for more than 20 years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has.....Read more on this story----> Mortgage lenders cut lists of 'approved' solicitors for conveyancing | Money | The Guardian