Report calls for regulated estate agencies

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by Lin Freestone

Sir Bryan Carsberg, a distinguished academic and businessman and former head of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), considers that estate agents, letting agents and managing agents who handle residential property should be subjected to formal regulation.

He has prepared a report jointly commissioned by the National Association of Estate Agents, Association of Residential Letting Agents and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, which has made recommendations on future improvements to the private residential property market.

At present, estate agents are negatively licensed, which means that anyone can set up in business without mandatory qualifications or any other permission. The OFT’s powers are limited, and can only ban estate agents if their conduct is deemed to be unfit and improper.

In the report, Sir Bryan said: “I recommend that landlords, letting and managing agents should be subject to appropriate regulatory requirements in order to achieve consumer protection, efficient markets and cost effectiveness.

I think that the markets for estate agencies, letting agencies and managing agencies are not working well because clients are not well informed about the qualifications of different agents and about what to expect from them in the way of service,” he added.

Sir Bryan has called for the establishment of formal regulatory bodies similar to those in operation for other professions. He also wants all estate agents to become members of a redress organisation such as an Ombudsman scheme, which will probably become a legal requirement later this year.

He also suggests that Home Information Packs (Hips) should become voluntary, because the system is not working. They were originally designed to provide information upfront to potential house buyers and to cut short the process of buying a home.

Sir Bryan’s report contains 30 recommendations to improve the way the residential property market works, which have largely been welcomed by leaders in the property industry.