Letting agencies

Checking the agent has Client Money Protection (CMP)

Rent Smart Wales also requires that agents have Client Money Protection (CMP) if the agent handles money from any of their ‘clients’ (this means landlords and contract-holders). CMP schemes make sure contract-holders are compensated if the agent cannot pay money they owe, e.g.if the agent goes out of business and should have repaid your deposit. There are a number of CMP schemes, including Safeagent and Propertymark.

Checking whether the agent is a member of another professional body

There are a range of other professional bodies that exist to help, and provide guidance to, letting agents.  There are a number of professional bodies, including PropertyMark, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA). These professional bodies usually have a code of conduct that an agent should adhere to, and they usually list members on their websites.

What else should I ask the letting agent?

Before agreeing to take accommodation from a letting agency find out:

• what the agency does on behalf of the landlord (e.g. will they manage the property?)
• what sort of occupation contract they are offering
• how long the landlord wants to rent out the property
• what charges you will have to pay before you move in
• how much the rent is and how often it’s paid
• how the agency wants the rent paid.

Can letting agencies charge?

Letting fees in Wales are banned. This means it is an offence for landlords and letting agents to charge them. Find out here which fees are banned and what you can do if you are charged a banned fee.

Letting agents should advertise any costs that you would need to pay in order to begin renting a property, including the holding deposit, security deposit and how much the rent is.

Discrimination if you have children or claim benefits

It is unlawful for a letting agent to stop you from enquiring about, viewing or renting a property simply because you have children or are on benefits.

This applies even if the landlord’s mortgage agreement says they can’t rent to households with children or claiming benefits.

However, your income can be taken into account in deciding whether you can afford to rent a property.

There are limited circumstances when a letting agent can refuse to rent to you if you have children or are on benefits. For example, if the landlord’s insurance policy began before 1 June 2026 and the terms of the insurance prohibit renting to people who claim benefits or have children.

What can I do if I think I am being discriminated against?

If you think you are being discriminated against, you can make a complaint to the letting agent. For help with this, take a look at our Challenging DSS Discrimination toolkit. You can also complain about letting agents to a redress scheme (see above).

Your local council’s Trading Standards department have the main responsibility for ensuring that landlords and letting agents comply with the law. You can contact Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. You can also get help from one of our advisers. They can help you work out if you are being discriminated against.

Other forms of discrimination

It is also unlawful for a letting agent to discriminate against you because of:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

You can find further information about these types of discrimination on Citizen’s Advice’s discrimination and discrimination in housing advice pages.