Estate, managing and letting agents should be subject to tighter regulations before they are allowed to work in the industry, a new report has suggested.
An independent review into the residential property market - carried out by former head of the Office of Fair Trading Sir Bryan Carsberg – claims that improved regulation in the housing sector is needed to ensure house-buyers are treated fairly and given a proper means of redress.
Currently, no qualifications are needed in order for someone to start working as an estate agent . As a result the profession has become one of the most loathed in the UK, with a reputation for ripping off clients .
Under the report's guidelines, those looking to work in the business would have to first pass an exam and have minimum qualifications . Existing estate agents would also need to take the exam unless they could prove that they had enough experience.
In addition, annual refresher courses would also be made compulsory to ensure agents kept up to date with new laws .
A total of 30 recommendations were put forward by the review, including the protection of money held by estate agents on behalf of their clients, compulsory law qualifications for anyone giving advice on residential property and more transparency throughout the industry.
Sir Bryan Carsberg also said Home Information Packs (Hips) should be made voluntary, as they had failed to improve the home-buying process since being introduced last August.
The review described Hips as the ‘worst of all worlds’, omitting the most useful information consumers needed when buying a home but still costing sellers around £350.
The report was commissioned by the three biggest industry bodies - the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents .
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Call For Estate Agents To Be Regulated Wed, 18 Jun 2008
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