Outsourced viewings firm Viewber has said that it fully expects its army of part-time freelance viewing assistants to be regulated.

Many have other jobs, while others may be retired or stay-at-home parents looking for extra earnings and an interesting sideline, and who would not regard themselves as estate agents.

However, as the newly published report from the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group makes clear, conducting viewings is among the activities that should only be “performed by a licensed individual”.

Licensing, it has recommended, will involve minimum qualifications and following a new code of practice.

Ed Mead, co-founder of Viewber, told EYE yesterday: “Viewber welcomes the changes.

“Training and maintaining standards for our Viewbers is important already, and when such legislation passes it’ll be a natural evolution.

“Providing a brand neutral overflow/weekend service, as Viewber does now, is simply a freelance extension of what many agents have already – we’d expect to be governed by the same rules as them.”

The Government, which looks set to rubber-stamp the recommendations in the report, will first have to appoint a new industry regulator – and there looks to be a jockeying for position among those who aspire to the role, plus those who would like to be accredited training providers, writers of codes of conduct, and many more.

The regulator will, among many other things, be responsible for approving the training and qualifications for the sector.

Already, however, it looks as though there will be big rise in training provision – even though agents cannot at the moment be sure whether this will meet the regulator’s requirements.

The new regulator will also have the power to decide whether there should be a single ombudsman in the sector, rather than “competing” redress schemes.

David Pilling, head of lobbying and policy at Ombudsman Services – which pulled out of providing a redress service in the property sector last year – said: “As the only redress provider to be involved in the working group, we believe that the recommendations contained in this report have the potential to make a significant and positive difference to consumers.

“We think the proposed regulatory body could play a key role in fostering a culture of openness, transparency and accountability across the property agent sector – ultimately raising standards and improving outcomes for consumers.”

The RICS was also represented on the working group, and yesterday a spokesperson said implementing the recommendations would rid the sector of those parts of it which had been likened to the “wild west”.

The RICS said: “Approximately 2,700 RICS regulated firms in the UK undertake residential sales, lettings agency and/or property management. These firms, and individual RICS members in the sector, are subject to regulation by RICS.

“These, however, represent just a fraction of the overall residential agency sector.

“We now intend to build on the existing RICS-led publications to produce a consolidated draft code for the regulator to consider, and look forward to working closely with the profession, sector partners and consumer interest stakeholders as we develop this.

“We are also pleased to note Lord Best has supported our recommendation that the new regulator should have the powers to delegate regulatory functions to selected designated professional bodies (DPBs), where they can show they have an independent regulatory function and demonstrable capacity to work in the public interest.

“RICS is already recognised as a DPB by the Financial Conduct Authority, positioning RICS well to play a key role in the future regulation of residential property agents.”

Meanwhile, Propertymark ARLA and NAEA bosses have released a video aiming to guide agents on the new regime: