Redress scheme membership
Redress scheme membership renewed each year, since an agency in England or Wales must belong to an approved scheme to market property at all.
For estate agents
Redress, client money and listing dates across the branch
Listings expire, certificates lapse and deposit deadlines run from the day a tenancy starts, and nobody in the branch is paid to watch them.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What estate agents have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
Client money protection
Client money protection scheme renewal, with the annual certificate displayed in branch and on the website wherever the agency holds client money.
Anti-money-laundering registration
Anti-money-laundering registration with HMRC where the agency is in scope, plus refresher training for every negotiator and the written risk assessment.
Professional indemnity renewal
Professional indemnity renewal checked against the redress scheme and client money protection conditions before the policy date.
Certificates per listing
Energy performance certificate and gas safety certificate chased for every new listing, since a property cannot be marketed without the right documents in place.
Tenancy deposit deadlines
Deposit protected within 30 days of receipt in England and Wales, or 30 working days in Scotland, with the prescribed information served in the same window.
Devolved nation registration
Rent Smart Wales licensing for the agency and its lettings staff, renewed every five years, and Scottish letting agent registration renewed on its own cycle.
Window cards and portal listings
Window cards, portal descriptions and brochures updated whenever a price changes or a sale falls through, so no branch displays a stale figure.
Right to rent checks
Right to rent checks completed on new tenants and the How to Rent guide issued and recorded, with the date of each kept on file.
What it costs to carry it
The dates are all different: a scheme year, a policy year, a deposit window counted in days from receipt and a certificate that has to be in the pack before the first viewing. They sit across a branch diary, three portals and whoever is on duty, so the chase is run from memory. When one lapses, a listing cannot be marketed, or the agency is trading without a scheme it is required to hold.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Listing certificate chase
Watching every listing for the EPC, gas certificate and floorplan it needs before the first viewing, and chasing what is missing.
Deposit paperwork
Preparing the deposit protection record and the prescribed information letter for each new tenancy, inside the deadline set for it.
Scheme and register renewals
Filing the redress scheme, client money protection and HMRC registrations and recording each renewal date as it approaches.
Keeping listings consistent
Updating window cards, portal descriptions and brochures when a price changes, so the branch and the advert agree.
What stays with the estate agent
The negotiator still values the property, wins the instruction and handles the offer, because that is the part the client is choosing. The desk holds the dates and the paperwork behind those conversations.
Questions
What has to be displayed in the branch?
The redress scheme certificate and, where client money is held, the client money protection certificate, along with the fees and the complaints procedure. The desk keeps a copy and the renewal date for each.
Can the desk protect a tenancy deposit?
It prepares the protection record and the prescribed information and tracks the deadline from the day the money is received. The transfer into the scheme is made from the agency's account.
Does the desk chase landlords for certificates?
It prepares the request and sends it once a mailbox is connected, and it records what came back and when. Anything a landlord has to sign stays with the landlord.
Put the estate agent's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the estate agent corrects it.