In 2018, I watched as the then housing minister stood on stage at a Propertymark conference and said that the industry did not want to be regulated. To which, the conference moderator, asked the audience ‘Which agents in the room support regulation?’ Over 500 hands shot up in seconds – there was overwhelming support in the room, but also, as we learnt later, across the membership to regulate the sector.

I wasn’t CEO of Propertymark then, but I was a member; I understood the benefits of professionalising a sector that has changed more in the last 10 years than in the previous 50. Digitisation; automation; legislation – the industry is evolving faster than ever, and the onus is on agents to have to keep up.

Typically, people’s homes are their biggest assets; we become custodians of those assets and when things go wrong arguably everyone – from the customer to the agent – has a lot to lose. And yet for the customer, there’s no way to distinguish between the agents that know what they are doing and those that don’t. It’s only fair to safeguard the public in a sector that is increasingly complex and competitive. Levelling the playing field with minimum levels of qualifications and a licence will put agents on a more equal footing with other professional sectors such as solicitors and financial advisors.

Suggesting that regulation is being forced on the sector is simply not true; in 2017 the government consulted openly with a call for evidence on its suggested approach to regulation to which any agent, interested party or individual could respond.

But of course, you had to be aware it was happening. Trade bodies, such as Propertymark, informed members, sought views and responded on behalf of the membership; we encouraged members to respond directly, to be part of the process and to have a voice. This is the benefit of belonging to a professional body – you have an opportunity to shape the sector you want to be part of, both as an individual and as a collective. In this case, we have drawn parameters for a future regulatory framework based on member insight and views, which we will continue to reflect as the proposals develop further.

A cohesive professional community which shares experience, advances skills and faces new challenges, monitoring professional standards at every step, will increase service levels. This community needs to represent views and interests on salient issues in the media and to government. As agents increasingly become multi-skilled and work across disciplines, the need to speak with one voice will become even more important; our role remains to help those agents and that member community.

Nathan Emerson is interim CEO at Propertymark. 

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