Industry news Rental fraud is costing almost £800m


Recent estimates from Shelter show that as many as 250,000 renters have fallen victim to rental fraud and scams in the past five years – with almost 50,000 victims in the past 12 months alone. It is estimated that bogus landlords are making


an eye watering £775 million through rental scams, with an average cost per victim of roughly £2,400, showing the scale of the damage caused by scammers. As landlords’ profits are squeezed by various


Government measures, more private landlords are turning to DIY online platforms to find tenants for their properties. However, many of the classified ad sites commonly used by such landlords offer little-to-no security checks to verify the authenticity of adverts. Unfortunately, these sites have therefore


become favourite targets for scammers looking to secure up-front payments from tenants for properties that they either do not own, or that never existed to begin with.


INCREASED SECURITY Online security and fraud prevention is becoming an increasingly important concern for safety- conscious home-hunters, especially for the thousands of tenants looking for private landlord properties that they will not find on the big “agent-only” portals. Recent YouGov research commissioned by


TheHouseShop.com found that the majority of adults said they would be “more likely” to use a property website that runs a variety of checks to verify the identity of advertisers and confirm property ownership details. Older age groups are the most cautious when it came to fraud prevention and online security, with 24 per cent of 45-54 year olds and 29 per cent of over 55’s saying they are “much more likely” to use a property site with additional security checks. Forcing landlords to provide evidence that they


are the legal owner of a property before allowing them to post an advert is one of the best ways to deter bogus landlords, but many in the industry admit that even with the most sophisticated security checks available, it is almost impossible to stop 100 per cent of scam or fraud attempts. To attract the growing number of renters


looking for a safe and secure platform to find and communicate with private landlords, TheHouseShop became the first business in Europe to offer a property ownership verification system for all private advertisers when they installed their Land Registry database check last year.


PRAISE The site is now reaping the benefits of its forward- thinking approach and is winning praise from both landlords and tenants for its attempts to


stamp out fake landlords trying to run scams on the site. Nick Marr, Co-founder of TheHouseShop, said:


“It’s been almost a year since we launched our mandatory Land Registry ownership verification check and we have now built up thousands of verified private rental listings on the site. We are finding that more and more of our traffic is coming from tenants using Google to track down private landlords, and being able to provide a safe and secure platform for renters to engage with landlords directly has been a huge achievement.” “Recent YouGov research has shown that


home-hunters are increasingly concerned about online safety and security, and these concerns are impacting which sites they choose to use. With the majority of Brits saying they would be either “more likely” or “much more likely” to use a site that verifies advertisers’ identities and confirms property ownership, it is clear that consumers are wising up to the dangers of online rental fraud and demanding tougher security checks on the platforms they use to search for property.” TheHouseShop works with private sellers,


private landlords, online agents, High Street agents and some of the UK's largest property developers to buy, sell, rent and let property online. It offers free property advertising for private landlords and has helped thousands of landlords find tenants for free. It also offers buyers and tenants a comprehensive selection of properties with both private and agency listings.


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24 | HMM September 2017 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


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