The agenda for the next parliamentary session was set out in the Queen’s Speech.

There is plenty for agents to consider among the many bits of legislation MPs are set to debate during the next parliamentary year.

So how will the proposed legislation affect your business?

Digital Economy Bill

Poor internet reception is a bugbear for businesses, especially if you need to keep in contact with customers or market properties.

A digital economy bill could help alleviate this strain with the introduction of a legal right to decent broadband.

This has been defined as a minimum speed of 10Mbps, although some would argue that is pretty slow.

Northern Powerhouse

The speech also mentioned one of the Government’s favourite catch phrases, the Northern Powerhouse.

It has vowed to open up investment opportunities to international investors including promoting over £24 billion worth of opportunities in the north to Chinese investors as well as boosting education, employment and enterprise zones.

Increased investment could be a boost for landlords and lettings agents looking to build buy-to-let portfolios and get in early to secure decent rental yields.

Neighbourhood and Infrastructure Bill

This bill confirmed the sell-off of the Land Registry and also limits local authorities’ power to insist on pre-planning conditions before works start on developments.

It also tightens up rules on compulsory purchase.

In future, owners of properties which are, for example, needed to make way for infrastructure or new housing estates will receive the market value of their properties as of now, and without taking into account the value of the scheme underlying the need for compulsory purchase.

This could have winners and losers. The winners will be those home owners whose homes are blighted by, for example, new high-speed railway lines and complain that their properties will be compulsorily bought at a pittance. The new law would mean that no account would be taken of the blight.

Losers could be those whose properties stand in the way of large-scale housing schemes to which they object. Such owners could in future have to weigh up getting far less via compulsory purchase than if they were to sell at full development land value at an earlier stage to a developer.

Jeremy Blackburn, head of UK policy for the RICS, said: “The current system is slow and cumbersome and does much to delay the delivery of much needed new homes and infrastructure. A new framework that defines compensation across all schemes would be a seismic shift.

“Together, these changes will address delays in planning, give power to local communities and will accelerate the construction of new homes and infrastructure once planning permission has been granted. This will go some way to addressing the long-standing housing crisis and building the infrastructure that our country needs.”

Pensions Bill

One change that some agents may not have considered is plans to introduce regulation of a popular type of pension used in auto enrolment known as master trusts.

Smaller businesses are currently signing up staff to pensions under the auto-enrolment scheme, so estate agents employing staff need to take note of changes that could come in the Pensions Bill.

There are two main options when setting up a pension scheme for your staff. In the past, companies ran defined benefit schemes that promised a payout based on earnings and years of service.

These were known as trust-based schemes but are expensive to run as all the costs fall on the company, leading many to collapse.

Instead a more popular and cheaper option is to outsource the running and administration of a pension scheme to an insurance provider known as a group personal pension. This is known as a contract-based scheme. But this can be expensive to set up and you may also need to pay for a financial adviser.

Instead, as a result of auto enrolment a new type of product has emerged called master trusts.

This is essentially a combination of a trust-based and contract scheme.

A master trust runs a pension scheme on behalf of several small businesses at a time and chooses where to invest the money.

Anyone can set up a master trust, unlike a contract-based pension scheme that has to be run by a regulated firm.

The Government has recently become concerned over lax regulation of master trusts as those running the schemes don’t need the same sort of qualifications and there can be less transparency compared with an insurance company product. There is also currently no Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so unlike with an insurance provider, if a master trust goes bust, savers could lose their money.

The NAEA has set up its own master trust that small firms can sign their staff up to.

The scheme was developed by pension provider Goddard Perry and funds are held and invested by Aegon, and savers pay an annual management charge of 0.65% and a £1 admin fee per month.

This outsources the running of schemes such as signing up staff and meaning contributions and can work out cheaper than a group pension scheme.

The NAEA provides plenty of information online about who runs its master trust and the charges, but it could face increase costs with new regulation.

The Pensions Bill would mean master trusts have to demonstrate that schemes meet strict new criteria before entering the market and taking money from employers or members.

The Pensions Regulator would also get powers to authorise and supervise these schemes and take action when necessary.

Master trusts could also come under pressure if they are not making any profits as may need to pay regulatory fees. Many are small and new firms so could be waiting a few years to start making a profit.

Greater regulation could make the costs of a scheme clearer but someone ultimately needs to pay for increased regulation and that could mean fund charges increasing.

Sean McSweeney, of financial advisers Chase de Vere, told EYE: “Overall the changes are positive as it makes the area more professional.

“But extra regulation means extra costs and someone has to pay for that. Smaller master trusts will need to achieve economies of scale to meet increasing costs and some may be better off merging or using bigger schemes.”