For tenants and landlords alike, the NALS logo means instant peace of mind. NALS, (The National Approved Letting Scheme) is an independent licensing scheme for lettings and management agents.That means when people see the NALS name, they know that firm has agreed to meet defined standards of customer service, is part of a Client Money Protection Scheme and has a customer complaints procedure offering independent redress.
If an accredited landlord or letting agent manages your home, it means they’re committed to giving you a good service and meeting all their legal obligations. This includes things like protecting your deposit and making sure your home’s been checked for gas safety. For letting agents, it also means they’ll have proper insurance to protect your deposit and rent money, and won’t charge you surprise fees.
With over 13,000 landlords and 1000 agents in London and growing by the day, the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme (LLAS) is the largest in the UK. The first scheme of its kind, LLAS aims to recognise good practice and improve conditions in the private rented sector.
The RLA is the leading voice for landlords in England and Wales. The name dates back to 1998 but our roots and experience go back decades to make us the UK’s first national landlord association.Owned and trusted by our members, we represent 17,000+ landlords with a combined portfolio of more than quarter of a million properties.Our strength, reputation, experience and professionalism means that, as a member of this most effective campaigning organisation, your voice gets heard.
Checking that the system works is a vital part of ISO 9001:2015. An organisation must perform internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. An organisation may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard, but there is no requirement for this.
ISO 14001:2015 specifies requirements for an environmental management system to enable an organization to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take into account legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes, and information about significant environmental aspects. It applies to those environmental aspects that the organization identifies as those which it can control and those which it can influence. It does not itself state specific environmental performance criteria.
The Ombudsman Service Ltd is a company limited by guarantee; a not-for-profit organisation. This means that Ombudsman Services has no shareholders and does not pay dividends. It can make a surplus but with no dividends to distribute, this surplus is used for two specific purposes. The first is to provide sufficient reserves to ensure the company can continue operating against a background of variability of income. The second use is to invest back into the business to further its aims of independent redress.
SAFE – Safe Agent Fully Endorsed – is a mark denoting firms that protect landlords and tenants money through client money protection schemes.There are several schemes in the sector operated by ARLA/NAEA, the Law Society, NALS and RICS to which agents voluntarily belong. These schemes are run by recognised industry bodies or organisations operating in the private rented sector to provide accreditation and/or regulation. They are completely independent from the letting agent and they do not act on behalf of, or have a duty of care to the participating firm. The scope of their CMP schemes varies and you should contact your agent to find out which scheme they are part of.
This increasingly heavy regulatory burden means it is more important than ever that landlords understand the legal and regulatory environment in which they manage their lettings.We seek a fair legal and regulatory environment for landlord and tenant, and actively lobby the government at all levels on behalf of our members. We also help ensure that our members are aware of their statutory rights and responsibilities.
UKALA’s aims are two-fold. We are dedicated to representing the interests of letting and management agents in the UK, whilst also safeguarding the interests of both landlords and tenants. To assist these aims, in 2011 UKALA signed a mutually beneficial business agreement with the NLA, the leading association for private residential-landlords in the UK. This coming together represents an important and progressive step towards a unified voice for landlords and letting agents in the sector.
We are a consumer redress scheme, authorised by the Government since 2014, to provide an impartial service that considers consumer complaints about a variety of property related issues. All property agents who carry out estate, lettings and property management work, have a legal responsibility to belong to a redress scheme and, if at any point, the consumer feels the service one of our members has provided falls short of what is expected, they may be able to raise a complaint. We also provide redress for other property professionals which includes landlords, and we offer dedicated tenancy mediation helping to resolve tenancy issues and prevent cases needing to go to court. Please note the Property Redress Scheme is not a regulator or an enforcement agency.
