It has been mandatory for letting agents in England who hold client money to belong to a client money protection scheme since 1st April 2019, in order to make sure that the funds of their tenants and landlords are protected.

Know your customer (KYC) checks, also known as customer due diligence, are an essential part of ensuring that your business is compliant with financial regulations, such as the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019.  Customer due diligence means not only verifying that your customers are who they say they are, but also having an understanding of the purpose and intended nature of their relationship with your business. In some situations, you may need to carry out customer due diligence on existing customers, or apply enhanced due diligence. If you have doubts about a customer’s identity, you must stop dealing with them until you’re sure.

Minimum energy efficiency standards were just the beginning. The UK has passed legislation pledging to end its contribution to global warming by 2050. The target will require the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, compared with the previous target of at least 80% reduction from 1990 levels. Net zero means any emissions would be balanced by schemes to offset an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, such as planting trees or using technology like carbon capture and storage.

Lifetime deposits are on the horizon, after being included in the Government’s Renters’ Reform Bill, a package of proposed reforms to the private rented sector. The Government has made affordability for tenants moving home a major legislative focus as part of its efforts to improve the experience of those living in the private rental sector and the concept of "deposit passporting" has emerged as one of its favoured ways to achieve this.

The United Kingdom has left the European Union, marking the beginning of an 11-month-long transition or “implementation” period. The Government has ruled out extending the transition period beyond the end of 31 December 2020. The transition period is designed to provide time for the details of the new relationship between the UK and the EU to be agreed. The EU will not negotiate the details of new arrangements with the UK while it is still a member of the EU. 

Letting agencies are now subject to money laundering legislation, under The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which came into effect on January 10, 2020.  Under the regulations, letting agencies who process agreements where, for a period of a month or more, the rent during at least part of that period is equivalent to a monthly rent of €10,000 or more, will need to meet certain responsibilities, including risk assessing their businesses to identify where they could be at risk of being used for money laundering.

The Fifth Money Laundering Directive came into force on 10th January 2020, making lettings agencies subject to anti-money laundering legislation. The changes will fall under The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019. Under the regulations, letting agencies will need to meet certain responsibilities, including carrying out a risk assessment and customer due diligence on agreements with landlords and tenants where, for a period of a month or more, the rent during at least part of that period is equivalent to a monthly rent of €10,000 or more.

The government has confirmed that it plans to abolish Section 21, make changes to Section 8, and introduce "lifetime deposits" as part of its “revolutionary” Renters’ Reform Bill, a sweeping set of reforms for the private rented sector in England, which were outlined in the briefing notes to the Queen’s Speech, delivered on 19 December 2019.

The government is likely to push ahead with its plans for a “complete overhaul” of the private rented sector, after the Conservative party won a majority in the general election of December 2019.

Will legislation of the private rented sector slow down in the next decade? It’s unlikely. In fact, as the number of renters grows, so too does their influence on the Government, which means the lettings industry could be subject to even more new legislation in the coming decade. That’s while many letting agencies are still getting to grips with recent changes. The ban on tenant fees was the single biggest change to the lettings industry in years, overhauling long-established business models in one fell swoop. It was predicted that revenues would decrease by 30% on average for most agencies.