By Mike Campbell, Director, Council of Letting Agents

THE role of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in providing housing across Scotland has been much discussed and sometimes criticised over the past 12 months. That so much attention is paid to the PRS is a function of that fact that it has grown significantly and has become this generation’s “mind the gap” housing provider, often offering the only way for people to have high quality, flexible accommodation closer to employment.

This week in Glasgow, letting agents and others involved in the sector will meet at our annual conference, The Agency Business, to take stock of how much has been achieved but, crucially, consider what we can do to play our part in increasing supply to contribute to solving Scotland’s housing crisis.

The past year has seen tremendous improvements to the professionalism in the letting agency sector as well as new challenges which have made investment in new and improved properties more difficult.

Much of the improvements have been driven by collaboration between the PRS, the Scottish Government, housing charities and others to create the road map for the PRS in Scotland, A Place To Stay, A Place To Call Home.

The implementation of this roadmap has seen milestone event follow milestone event over the last few months as the momentum has accelerated with the new Private Residential Tenancy coming into being in December and the transfer of PRS jurisdiction to the First Tier Tribunal in 2017 and the introduction of the Letting Agent Code of Practice in January this year. Next on the list is the no-small matter of Letting Agent Registration, requiring mandatory training for professionals in the sector, with the deadline of October 1 circled in red ink in most letting agent’s diaries.

It is important that tenants and landlords are aware of these new regulations so they can ensure that they are working with a letting agent who is fully compliant and meets the highest standards. Only with this knowledge can these groups help us to drive the rogue letting agents, working for low prices but providing a shoddy and sometimes dangerous service.

However, additional regulation, welcomed by the sector, does not automatically guarantee improved service for our customers. All letting agents will have to continually strive to make that link a reality and the role of the Council of Letting Agents (CLA) is to equip and support our members to thrive and exploit the level playing field we’ve been calling for and now have.

The job of being a letting agent is a complex one, as it should be for a sector whose job it is to provide people with safe, secure homes for themselves and their family. Issues such as data protection, resolving disputes fairly and amicably and looking at ways to use new technology to improve the service we can offer are all key topics we will be considering this week.

Looking to the future, we need to ensure that the service the PRS provides is of such a standard that it continues to be seen as a key part of the diverse mix of new housing that we need to provide to meet rising demand, particularly in cities such as Glasgow. That means new-build houses for purchase, social housing, the PRS and others existing within the same area and not in their own silos, providing the flexible, quality housing needed for future economic and social success.

Only if letting agents retain the trust of our customers, will government and others continue to trust us to help fulfil that goal.