The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has backed proposals to regulate estate agents as part of planned reforms to the home buying and selling process, warning that failure to do so could undermine the changes.
The regulator said the government’s plans are aimed at reducing waste in a system where an estimated £400m a year is lost through aborted transactions, with around one in three property sales falling through.
All key players within the conveyancing process must “have clear accountabilities and responsibilities, adhere to comparable ethical and professional standards, and be subject to comparable regulatory oversight,” it added.
The CLC was responding to recent government consultations on reforming the home buying and selling process and the provision of material information in property listings, which closed on 29 December.
It said the upfront provision of material information was essential to creating a faster and more secure transaction process and improving confidence in outcomes. The regulator also supported the mandatory introduction of digital property logbooks, provided they are standardised, and the use of binding agreements where they allow for fair withdrawal by parties.
However, the CLC opposed plans for a proposed consumer ‘charter’ designed to help identify high-quality property professionals, arguing that similar schemes already exist.
While collaboration with industry bodies, including the Home Buying and Selling Council (HBSC) and the Digital Property Market Steering Group (DPMSG), would be important to delivering reform, the CLC said sustained government support would also be required.
“We regret that although the professions involved have it within their power to make the changes needed in the consumer and wider public interest, it might be necessary for government or regulators to require certain changes to ensure progress is made,” it said.
Stephen Ward, director of strategy and external relations at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, commented: “The current fall-through rate of 30% simply must be reduced. Consumers need certainty much earlier in the process that their sale or purchase will complete, something which the CLC has been working with the HBSC and DPMSG to deliver.
“We welcome the government’s support for the agenda for transformation of home buying and selling and hope our collaborative efforts can make our vision a reality, raising standards so that consumers’ interests are protected at all stages of the home buying and selling process.”
Estate agents don’t control the legal process, so why aren’t conveyancing solicitors held accountable for transaction fall-throughs and delays?
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Good old conveyancers lets get someone else to do as much of the work as possible so we don’t have to.
Sales don’t fall through because of estate agents they fall through from slow and shoddy legal practice.
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I have a radical idea to improve the sales process and potentially cut down on fall through’s, how about making it so that conveyancers also don’t get paid if the sale falls through, why should it only be agents that don’t get paid for putting in lots of hard work!
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100% agree
They get paid when they f up
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Barely into the New Year and the blame game starts again. Only outside influence will improve the process because the stakeholders cannot have constructive discussions or agree on a practical way forward.
I’m currently watching this on Parliament TV:
Subject: Affordability of Home Ownership
Witness(es): Beth Rudolf, Co-Chair, Home Buying and Selling Council; Joe Pepper, Chief Executive, PEXA UK; Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy & Campaigns, Propertymark
Witness(es): David O’Leary, Executive Director, Home Builders Federation; Steve Collins, Chief Executive, Rentplus-UK; Paul Rickard, Chief Executive, Pocket Living
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So?
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I have never understood why so such a large minority of agents are against regulation. Every other major western democracy regulates its real estate sector and the vast majority of countries have to undergo basic examinations before they can practice which a 16 year old would skate through at GCSEs. What is it to be so afraid of? We are dealing with people’s most important asset worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to them and often hold client monies on account. We have to legally advise them as to the best method of sale for their property which means understanding fully how private treaty, auction and tender sales work (how many agents do not advise auction when it is clearly the best route and they don’t do auctions themselves). Auctioneers are meant to understand auction law and procedure, but most of the new breed of conditional (“modern method”) auctioneers do not. Basic regulation and regular proof of knowledge would weed out most (but not all, I know) of our incompetent colleagues and help to create a much more efficient and respectable industry across the board, and help us to increase our fees to boot!
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Estate agents are regulated let’s be clear on that for starters, EA Act, PMA as was and is now etc, whether they are fit for purpose and correctly governed is another debate.
The discussion here is about whether they should have ‘professional’ qualifications to practice and I don’t think agents are against it as a rule, I think they are sceptical in terms of what it will actually change.
What is rich here is that the conveyancing ‘professionals’ feel that somehow it will make a difference if we are made to ‘put our house in order’ while theirs burns down, floods, falls off a cliff and they can’t see it.
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They can see it, but with more and more issues to deal with and responsibilities put upon them, can do very little about it.
When I did conveyancing, 20 plus years ago, it was much less challenging than it is now. The experienced ones are leaving in their droves. And you think it is bad now!
A little more understanding from both sides would be a start.
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So much is subjective an a matter of opinion – not possible to regulate
Estate agency is now a low skilled admin job
I saw recently the average a salary for a negotiator is £28 k
That is not going to attract motivated ambitious people
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So the CLC want estate agents to provide an “upfront provision of material information.” Surely, they are not suggesting that a rehashed version of a HIP would solve all problems??? Would they then accept this material information that an estate agent had provided as gospel and would act upon it. I don’t think so!
Whilst regulation within the industry can have a place, this is not a pivotal reason why sales fall through.
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Friends if mine who has just seen a demo last week of an AI system, which he says will do all the basics of conveyancing
Issuing contracts checking contracts raising enquire answering enquires asking g for find to be sent when close to echame etc
Anything that needs more thought is passed onto a lawyer
He says it will enable to ton have someth8ng working 245.7 and he will be making redundancies
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Hope they run it past their PI insurers.
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He is the partner of a large company that also deals in far more difficult issues that a bit of simple conveyancing that most monkeys could do
He is not an idiot
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I don’t doubt that, not so sure about you now though. Unnecessarily hostile.
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I hope the estate agency exams don’t cover spelling….
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