In September 2006, 25 years old and with £1,500 in her pocket, Hannah McCartan set up her own lettings agency, McCartan Lettings. Ten years on, the company has won numerous national awards, and Hannah has herself received the prestigious Woman in Business Professional Services Award 2015.

“The main focus has always been to ensure that our clients get the best possible service in a very complex industry,” Hannah comments, “and the awards we have received are a reflection of our success at this. There are so many cowboy agents out there that it is difficult for landlords on the street to determine who is and who isn’t going to give them the service they deserve. Letting out a property is a business in its own right, and can be a legal minefield, especially when things go wrong. It is essential that landlords know that the agent they instruct will be setting them up with a legally compliant tenancy.”

Keeping On Top of Changing Legislation

Since McCartan Lettings opened their doors back in 2006, there have been many significant changes to housing legislation, including the introduction of tenant deposit protection and, perhaps most monumentally, the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 that promises to make Wales a leader in rental reform. And more reform is on the way; properties with ratings lower than F or G will soon be deemed un-tenantable, and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will make current assured shorthold tenancy agreements obsolete. In the Autumn Statement (2016), Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced a ban on fees for tenants. Whilst it has been assumed that this will apply to England only, Wales must be prepared for this to be brought in as UK-wide law, and/or for the Welsh Government to follow the example in due course.

Hannah says “it’s imperative for landlords to keep on top of their ever changing legislation, and one way of doing that is to instruct the services of a professional letting agency.”

Licensed Agent

To coincide with their 10th anniversary, McCartan Lettings was one of Swansea’s first letting agencies to be licensed with Rent Smart Wales. “I am delighted to officially announce that we have now got our licence with Rent Smart Wales. I have always been a champion for best practice in the lettings industry, and this year, we finally see the legal requirement for all landlords and agents to have a licence in Wales. This is a great step forward in the fight against rogue landlords and letting agents who offer poor quality services”.

For more information on any aspect of letting you property, or on buying a property for let, give the team a call on 01792 430100. You can also subscribed to our new Swansea-focused monthly newsletter by clicking here.