Regulation of estate and lettings agents may not be introduced for at least two years, the architect of the reforms has revealed.
Speaking yesterday at the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) annual conference, Lord Best, chair of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group (ROPA), revealed there is no set timeline yet for the changes.
He said: “It will still take two years to work its way through as it requires legislation.
“There is a backlog due to Brexit.
“The creation of the new homes ombudsman is also ahead of us, which will also be a good stepping stone.”
Lord Best ruled out any ‘grandfathering’ for experienced agents and said individuals would require a level 3 style qualification while more senior directors would need level 4.
He said that if this forces those opposed to qualifications to retire, then it is a price worth paying.
The peer said landlords and developers would be exempt from qualification requirements and revealed that the Government had “drawn a line” at short-term lettings operators such as Airbnb being included.
He said: “The big missing chunk we are not regulating is private landlords.
“This means there will be regulation that covers the agents who look after the property but it will not reach landlords who do it themselves.
“We recommend the Government starts with agents and extends the role of regulator later.”
Comments (9)
I am not too sure what is being regulated, or if those looking to regulate have knowledge of what the industry will be like very soon, as proptech seems set to change the whole functionality of the legacy structured industry. Will AI be regulated the unseen friend of real estate in the UK? Because within a very few years, just as Fintech changed how banking is done, an app on your mobile phone, or you smart watch etc, Proptech will create the same efficiencies. This will lead to a slimmed down industry with regard to head-count, and so I am left wondering if regulation is the silver bullet that will ‘save’ the reputation of agency, or is it the 27 year old wunderkinds who are finding real solutions to the archaic practices that we adhere to at present – because we have always done business this way. Amazon, Google, Facebook etc never sleep, their commercial reach is truly global and they are in the service industry, the moment Amazon with all its data becomes a realtor, it will not be online agents that the industry will be looking over their shoulder at – it will be those nice people who deliver to our door morning noon and night.
Should start with self managing landlord then agents or regulate all in the same way as Mortgage advisors, qualification and directly authorised and regulated with a recognised association such as ARLA and if not they must have to use a qualified authorised and regulated agent in the same way as a mortgage advisor would have to join a network
One wonders if the people making these decisions are actually self-managing landlords!
Is it Lord or Baron??? Best.
74 yrs old.
You should be minding your biscuit tin at home Mr Best.
Mr Best,
They do 9 Roll Packs. I’ll send you some. Keep it nearby. You’ll need it as you seem to talk a lot of it.
Pen handy Mr Best? Jot this down as you’ll no doubt be able to add to your expenses, that I and the rest of the UK taxpayers pay for.
A N D R E X
It’s no wonder this country is a laughing stock. Clowns dictating to the workers. How can I take anyone seriously, that revels in the title “Lord”?
“He said that if this forces those opposed to qualifications to retire, then it is a price worth paying.”
Yet those that will actually sit on the Boards of Agencies – such as Purplebricks’ newly appointed ‘Managing Director – UK sales and service’ will not be required to attain those “qualifications”.
You couldn’t make this up. Complete, utter f*ckwittery (credit: Jonnie)
“This means there will be regulation that covers the agents who look after the property but it will not reach landlords who do it themselves”.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Two years away and not regulating private landlords which are probably amongst the worst offenders.
I’m intrigued to know what impact this will have on a reasonably large sector of our industry, weekend viewing assistants. It’s right anyone in a customer facing role should have a level of training and competency, but a level 3 award would seem a bit heavy handed and likely to deter otherwise good candidates for the role.