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With his distinctive blonde hair, Boris Johnson, mayor of London, is instantly recognisable on the streets of the capital. Unfortunately for him, his flagship scheme, the London Rental Standard, has failed to grab public attention in quite the same way.
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The London Rental Standard was launched in a blaze of publicity last year. Its aim, said Boris, was to: “improve the experience of everyone involved, from landlord to tenant, with a clear set of good practice rules.”
“In time, the London Rental Standard will become an instantly recognisable feature of London’s lettings industry, helping Londoners to pick between the huge array of landlords and agents on offer,” added the press release.
Boris Badge Absent
Sadly it hasn’t quite worked out that way and today less than 0.2% of adverts for homes to let in the capital mentioned the scheme. Of the 62,521 listings for rental homes on property portal, Zoopla, only 114 adverts mentioned the London Rental Standard – and most of these were for one agent.
“Voluntary accreditation schemes only work if tenants know to look out for the badge, creating demand that landlords might respond to. Even the agents who are members of the scheme don’t publicise it, and don’t let tenants search for accredited landlords,” said Darren Johnson from the Green London Assembly.
“The scheme is a flop, and is no substitute for adequate regulations.”
Support for Professional Standards
Many agents operating in London were keen to show their support in the early days, but today most of them now don’t mention their membership of the scheme in rental ads. Still, any scheme that tries to improve rental standards in the capital can’t be a bad thing.
