Research into the impact of extending estate agent regulation to those purely involved in letting property found the benefits to landlords of competent lettings agents outweighed the costs they might try to pass on.

The report highlighted cases of poor agents exposing landlords to litigation: “A competent agent can save a landlord considerable time and frustration in getting the property on to the rental market and recruiting tenants.

“Likewise, during the course of a tenancy, agents are able to deal with enquiries from tenants and make arrangements for routine maintenance and safety checks. For many landlords who are in employment or who operate other businesses, there are significant opportunity costs associated with spending time managing a rental property.”

A survey of estate agents found over a third of those working exclusively in lettings would try to pass on the cost of regulation to landlords. However, if minimum professional standards were introduced for lettings agents, the report calculated new and ‘accidental’ landlords would value the agent as a vital store of information and contacts.

It argued landlords suffered because of poor communications. In one case, a tenant was attempting to sue a landlord because the agent had passed on the blame for bad service – despite the landlord being completely unaware that any issues had been raised.