The Demand for Regulation of the Property
I’ve been watching this ‘space’ for the last 18 years and when I started working in the property sector I did not understand why estate agents who assist consumers with the biggest purchase of their lives were not required to have even a minimum entry level qualification. But this also applies to letting agents who manage billions of pounds worth of stock.
We have a list of the primary, secondary legislation that agents need to be aware of and adhere to on behalf of their clients and it currently sits at 297. Clearly no one expects an agent to know each piece of Statute of by heart, but the fundamental principles of key legislation is paramount.
But the property sector does not just revolve around the law and compliance - think about key skills, customer service, customer care, complaints handling, building rapport and relationships, the benefits of NLP in business and so it goes on.
An Update from Westminster
An Update on the Renter's Reform Bill
The White Paper on the Renters' Reform Bill, should have been published in October and has now been delayed until 2022, The announcement made by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was a surprise given that the Bill had appeared on the government's agenda and in the Queen's Speech. The government announced that the White Paper would provide an outline of it's plan to its reform the private rented sector. The proposed changes are set to include:-
-
abolishing Section 2
-
the introduction of lifetime deposits
-
a Tenants' Redress Scheme
-
a Landlords' Register & Regulation of Landlords
A recent survey looked at the difficulties individuals face when renting, letting or enforcing property standards in the Private Rented Sector.The Government’s said that they are committed to exploring the merits of a national landlord register and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are engaging with a range of stakeholders across the private rented sector.
The initial research exercise will complete in December 2021. The findings from this survey of private tenants and other sources of research will be used to inform next steps and further engagement.
Government Launches Consultation on New Code of Practice for the Property Sector
Today the government launched its Consultation on a new Code of Practice (COP) which will be the central point of the work undertaken by the new industry regulator, yet to be appointed.
The COP will set the standards and benchmark with a mission to promote a higher element of faith in the property sector. There are references to transparency currently addressed by the CMA and Trading Standards, Referral Fees, Client Money Protection Regulations, Redress and Complaints, along with the collection and management of data.
This New COP will apply to :
-
Property Sales/Purchases
-
Property Lettings and Property Management
-
Property Auctions
-
Property Guardians, a new initiative used by Landlords, commercial and residential
-
Rent-to-rent
-
International property agents and brokers
What’s the Point of Being Qualified?
Most of the blogs on our site are written in the third person with no specific personal reference in mind. This blog is different as it comes from a place where personal experience and a background in education is brought to the fore. Training/teaching the delivery of - is as a natural as breathing for me. It’s been part of my adult life for a little over 30 years. From being a newly qualified teacher working with 11 to 18 year olds in a secondary school to leaving the profession as a Head of Sixth Form and the challenging transition into the private rented sector, my place of Zen has always been the classroom. Creating a safe, comfortable and fun environment for people to learn in, interact and want to come back to, is really not like hard work.