How to check a letting agent before you appoint them

Most landlords appoint a letting agent based on a Google search, a recommendation from a friend, or whoever happens to be on the high street. Very few check whether that agent is actually compliant, financially stable, or has a history of complaints. Most of the time this works out fine. When it doesn't, the consequences can be severe.

Letting agents have failed and disappeared with landlord and tenant money. Client deposits have gone missing. Rents have been collected and not passed on. These aren't rare events — they happen every year, to landlords who trusted an agent without checking the basics.

The checks below take time but are all based on freely available public information. Do them before you sign a management agreement.

1. Client Money Protection — the most important check

Client Money Protection (CMP) has been mandatory for letting agents in England since April 2019. It means that if your agent goes bust or absconds with your money, you can claim it back through the scheme. Without CMP, your rent and your tenants' deposits are unsecured.

There are several approved CMP schemes — Propertymark Client Money Protection, RICS Client Money Protection, Money Shield, Client Money Protect, and others. Every legitimate agent must belong to one and display which scheme they use.

Crucially: agents are required to display their CMP certificate on request and on their website. An agent who can't or won't produce it is either non-compliant or disorganised — neither is acceptable. You can verify membership directly with the scheme provider.

2. Property Ombudsman or Redress Scheme membership

Letting agents in England have been required to belong to a government-approved redress scheme since 2014. The two main schemes are The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and the Property Redress Scheme (PRS). Membership means that if you have a complaint that can't be resolved directly, you have a formal escalation route with binding decisions.

Both schemes have publicly searchable member registers. Check the agent's name and trading name on both registers — not just their company name, as agents sometimes trade under different names. An agent not registered with either scheme is operating illegally.

3. Propertymark or ARLA accreditation — claimed vs verified

Many agents display Propertymark (formerly ARLA) logos on their websites and marketing materials. This accreditation signals professional training and adherence to a code of conduct. The problem is that agents sometimes display these logos after their membership has lapsed.

Propertymark maintains a publicly searchable register of current members at propertymark.co.uk. Check the agent directly. If they claim membership but don't appear on the register, ask them directly for their membership number — and verify it.

4. Companies House — directors, accounts, and dissolved entities

Every letting agency operating as a limited company has a Companies House filing. This is public, free to search, and tells you a great deal about the health and history of the business.

What to look for in the accounts

Check the filed accounts trend. Are they profitable and solvent? Have they been filing 'dormant' accounts despite actively trading? Is there a pattern of declining revenue? A small agency with deteriorating financials is a higher risk for the kind of failure that leads to client money going missing.

Director history

Search each director's name on Companies House. Have they been directors of other companies that were subsequently dissolved? Have they been disqualified as a director — searchable on the disqualified directors register? A director associated with multiple failed businesses in the same sector warrants careful consideration.

Reformed agencies

A common pattern with problematic agencies: the business is dissolved (often with outstanding debts), and the same person reopens under a slightly different name shortly afterwards. Companies House makes this traceable. Search the director's history, not just the current company name.

5. Trading Standards enforcement history

Some local councils publish records of enforcement actions against letting agents — formal warnings, fines, and prosecutions for non-compliance. This isn't universally available and varies by council, but it's worth checking with the relevant local authority for the area where the agent operates.

You can also check whether the agent appears on the National Trading Standards Rogue Landlord and Agent checker, which records civil penalty notices issued for certain offences.

6. Review pattern analysis — what their clients actually say

Star ratings tell you almost nothing. Pattern analysis tells you a great deal. When reading reviews for a letting agent, look for:

• Recurring themes in negative reviews — if multiple tenants mention the same specific issue (slow repairs, deposit deductions, unresponsive communication), that's a systematic behaviour, not an isolated incident
• The landlord vs tenant split — an agent can have good landlord reviews and terrible tenant reviews, or vice versa. Both matter because unhappy tenants are more likely to leave your property and cause disputes
• How the agent responds to complaints — an agent who responds to negative reviews with excuses or counter-accusations is telling you something about how they handle conflict
• Review patterns over time — a surge of five-star reviews in a short period followed by silence can indicate review manipulation

Check Trustpilot, Google, AllAgents, and Checkatrade. Don't rely on the reviews on the agent's own website.

7. Questions to ask before signing a management agreement

• Which CMP scheme are you registered with? Can you send me your current certificate today?
• Which redress scheme are you a member of? What's your membership number?
• Are you Propertymark accredited? What's your Propertymark member number?
• Where is client money held? Is it in a separate designated client account?
• How many properties do you currently manage? What's your average tenancy length?
• What is your process for managing rent arrears? How quickly do you notify landlords?
• What are your full fees? Management percentage, renewal fees, void fees, maintenance markup — get everything in writing
• What notice period applies to the management agreement? Can you exit without penalty if you're unhappy?

The remote landlord — why this matters more if you're not local

If you own a property in an area where you have no personal network — whether that's another city, or because you live abroad — you have no way to assess an agent's local reputation informally. You can't ask your neighbour, walk past the office, or rely on word of mouth.

For remote landlords, the formal checks above aren't optional due diligence — they're the only due diligence available. The compliance checks (CMP, Ombudsman, Propertymark) are binary: the agent either passes or they don't. The Companies House and review analysis gives you the qualitative picture. Together they give you a reasonable basis for a decision.

Red flags that should make you walk away

• Cannot produce a CMP certificate on request — non-negotiable, walk away
• Not on any redress scheme register — illegal since 2014, walk away
• Director associated with multiple dissolved lettings companies — serious red flag
• Accounts show insolvency risk or haven't been filed — your money is at risk
• Pressure to sign immediately — legitimate agents don't pressure landlords
• Fees significantly below market rate — unsustainable businesses fail, often with client money
• Can't answer basic questions about their processes — if they can't explain how they handle rent arrears or maintenance, they probably don't have a process