CLAS landlords call time on poor leasing

The British Property Federation has launched an accreditation scheme to encourage tenant-friendly leasing which will highlight those commercial landlords committed only to the highest levels of service.

The Commercial Landlords Accreditation Scheme (CLAS) will guide businesses towards landlords who offer a wider range of flexible, manageable leases, who understand business needs and who deal with their customers' complaints fairly and quickly.

Anyone bearing the CLAS badge will be committed to the new commercial lease code, will have procedures in place to handle tenants’ concerns, and could face disciplinary action if the scheme’s rules are broken.

The government-backed scheme also has a standards board with members representing both landlords and tenants, ensuring the scheme is run in a balanced and credible manner.

Landlords with the CLAS logo will be recognised as being forward-thinking and tenant-friendly, giving them a commercial advantage over their less progressive rivals. Tenants gain from having increased confidence in landlords, as they will be able to clearly identify those likely to treat them fairly.

CLAS has been devised by the Owners’ and Occupiers’ Property Forum - headed by consumer rights expert, Sir Bryan Carsberg. He is former director general of the OFT and OFTEL, and former secretary general of the International Accounting Standards Council. The Standards Board will be chaired by Dame Mavis McDonald, former permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Welcoming the introduction of CLAS, Yvette Cooper MP, minister of state for housing and planning, said: “This new landlord accreditation scheme will give businesses a better deal on commercial property leases. Tenants will be able to see whether a landlord has signed up to best practice. They will be able to go to the new independent complaints board if an accredited landlord ignores the code. This is a welcome and important step forward by the industry and the challenge now is to make sure that all landlords sign up. We shall be keeping a close watch on the market to see that it makes a real difference.”

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “This marks a new departure for the property industry and one that I hope will provide useful support for the recently launched Leasing Business Premises code. Any commercial landlord is very welcome to join the scheme and we hope it will prove particularly useful to smaller landlords who want to follow good practice and gain some credit for doing so, even if they’re not a BPF member. Throughout the industry, competition for occupiers is fierce. Landlords now have the opportunity to show they are ‘first CLAS’, and to differentiate themselves in doing so.”

Sir Bryan Carsberg, chairman of the Owners’ and Occupiers’ Property Forum, said: “We wanted a scheme that would give occupiers confidence, without putting off landlords, particularly smaller ones. I believe we have got that balance about right. I am grateful to the members of the Owners’ and Occupiers’ Property Forum for their assistance in designing the scheme. The forum will continue to have an important role in monitoring CLAS, because the proof of its success will not be in its launch, but in its achievements.”

Dame Mavis McDonald, chair of the CLAS Standards Board, commented: “My colleagues on the Board have a wealth of experience as landlords and tenants and of professional self regulation. I know from my civil service experience that government attaches importance to ensuring occupiers, particularly small occupiers, are informed about the leases they are negotiating and are dealt with fairly by their prospective landlords. Landlords and occupiers can rest assured the Board will seek to uphold the standards of the scheme.”

Under CLAS, landlords sign up to five rules, enforceable via an agreed disciplinary process:

1. Inform prospective tenants they are CLAS members
2. Explain the risks involved in a lease to prospective small business occupiers
3. Abide by the Leasing Business Premises landlord code of conduct
4. Clarify to the tenant if and why any lease code requirements cannot be fulfilled
5. Provide a written complaints procedure and contact to handle any complaints.

The property industry’s self-regulation drive comes out of a desire to promote the sector’s increasingly high standards.

The self-certifying accreditation scheme is open to all commercial landlords operating in England and Wales. CLAS landlords will be able to display the scheme’s logo and their tenants will have the benefits of a three-step complaints process if their landlords fail to live up to the code, including referral to an independent CLAS Standards Board for more serious complaints.

Full details on the scheme can be found on clascheme.org.uk.