Section 54 — Meaning of “letting agent” and related expressions

(1) In this Part “letting agent” means a person who engages in letting agency work (whether or not that person engages in other work).

(2) But a person is not a letting agent for the purposes of this Part if the person engages in letting agency work in the course of that person's employment under a contract of employment.

(3) In this Part “letting agency work” means things done by a person in the course of a business in response to instructions received from—

(a) a person (“a prospective landlord”) seeking to find another person to whom to let housing, or

(b) a person (“a prospective tenant”) seeking to find housing to rent.

(4) But “letting agency work” does not include any of the following things when done by a person who does nothing else within subsection (3)—

(a) publishing advertisements or disseminating information;

(b) providing a means by which a prospective landlord or a prospective tenant can, in response to an advertisement or dissemination of information, make direct contact with a prospective tenant or a prospective landlord;

(c) providing a means by which a prospective landlord and a prospective tenant can communicate directly with each other.

(5) In this Part “English letting agency work” means letting agency work that relates to housing in England.