ST Property accreditations - client protection
UKALA (UK Association of Letting Agents)
UKALA is a professional membership body which supports its members to stay legally compliant in an ever-changing regulatory environment.
UKALA members must meet strict entry criteria and must adhere to a code of practice in order to stay registered and retain the accrediation.
ST Properties are proud to be accredited members of UKALA.
Being partners with them helps us to improve our standards through professional development, and ensures we remain compliant with all letting agency regulations.
Client Money Protect
As of 1st April 2019 it became mandatory for all letting and property management agents that handle client money to obtain Client Money Protect (CMP) in England.
CMP protects tenants and landlords against the loss of, or attempt to fraudulently use, client money such as rent and deposits by letting agents.
With UKALA CMP, tenants and landlords are able to claim back the entire amount of money that has been lost or misappropriated by an agent.
Having met the strict criteria, ST Properties are proud to be CMP certified, and are pleased to be able to offer tenants and landlords complete peace of mind that their money is well protected.
UKALA total loss CMP offers the most comprehensive CMP cover on the market.
Property Redress Scheme
From 1st October 2014, it became mandatory for all estate, letting and property management agents to belong to a government-approved Property Redress Scheme (PRS).
All property agents and professionals working in these industries have a legal responsibility to join an authorised redress scheme and signpost this to their customer.
The PRS is authorised by the government to offer an escalated complaints process to those wanting to make a complaint caused by the acts or omissions of any agent signed up to the scheme.
This is an alternative to the formal legal process. There is no cost to consumers to raise a complaint with the PRS.
The role of the independent redress scheme is to provide impartial dispute resolution between the agent and members of the public.
ST Properties Letting Agents and Property Management Services are members of the PRS, offering you confidence that in the unfortunate event that you are not happy with our services, you can have your concerns impatially addressed.
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DPS (Deposit Protection Service)
For holding tenant deposit monies, ST Properties have chosen to use the Deposit Protection Service (DPS). The DPS protect more deposits in England and Wales than any other scheme. We ensure full compliance by transferring the deposit in full to the DPS within 30 days of us receiving it. The tenant deposit remains in a DPS custodial deposit scheme, until the tenancy end date. For those on a fully managed service with ST Properties, if there are no disputes, handling the repayment of tenant deposits is fully included as part of our service. We can also take care of processing tenant deposits that are subject to dispute by the tenant.
ICO (Information Commissioner's Office)
As a letting agent and property management agent, ST Properties collects and stores a variety of personal information from tenants and landlords.
Any organisation that processes personal data, as we do, must register with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to demonstrate compliance around protecting individuals' privacy properly.
It is a legal requirement under data protection laws to register with the ICO to show we are handling that data responsibly.
ST Properties is fully compliant with all GDPR regulations, giving both tenants and landlords reassurance that their data is being handled in a legally compliant way, ensuring safety and appropriate use of their personal data.
ST Properties' ICO registration number: ZB847441
NRLA (National Residential Landlords Association)
In addition to being letting agents, ST Properties continue to manage their own portfolio of residential buy-to-let properties. Being landlords ourselves means we are constantly aware of the challenges that landlords face, the processes they have to go through, and the complaince they must adhere to. To keep us fully up to date with the residential lettings industry, from a private residential landlord perspective, we remain members of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).