Membership of a Government Approved Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme became a legal requirement for all agents in England dealing with residential lettings across England from Monday 1 April.
Legally, agents must now display a certificate confirming membership of an Approved CMP scheme both in branch and on their website.
Client Money Protection (CMP) is a compensation scheme which recompenses landlords and tenants should an agent misappropriate their rent, deposit or other client funds. It is a requirement for ARLA Propertymark members to have CMP, therefore here at Sue Bridges Lettings we have had this in place from day one and welcome the news that it is now a mandatory requirement.
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 enabled the Secretary of State to require letting and property agents in England to be a member of a government-approved Client Money Protection scheme.
On 4 March 2019 the Government passed The Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019.
ARLA Propertymark led the campaign with industry support for the introduction of the new rules as part of their aim to raise standards in the private residential sector.