Government clamps down on rogue estate agents

New measures aim to regulate the industry, end gazumping and take some of the stress out of buying a house

The government has announced a major shake-up of estate agents, requiring them to hold qualifications and reprimanding them for causing delays – so is the stress of buying a home soon to be a thing of the past?

The Housing Secretary, Sajid Javid has announced new measures that aim to drive up standards among estate agents, effectively putting an end to “rogue agents”.

According to government research, the majority of buyers and sellers have experienced stress throughout the process of buying or selling a home, with many saying that they would choose a different estate agent next time.

In addition, delays and complications lead to more than a quarter of house sales falling through each year.

An end to gazumping and set fees

There are currently around 20,000 estate agent businesses across the UK and – until now – anyone could call themselves an estate agent.

Under the new measures, estate agents will need to hold a professional qualification and declare any fees they receive for recommending specific solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers.

Estate agents will also be expected to encourage voluntary reservation agreements in a bid to put an end to gazumping, set a 10-day deadline for the return of local council searches, and put in place a system that provides up-to-date lease information for a set fee.

In addition, the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team will have stronger powers that will enable it to ban estate agents that don’t play by the rules.

10-day turnaround on local authority searches

Announcing the measures, Sajid Javid said: “Buying a home is one of the biggest and most important purchases someone will make in their life. But for far too long buyers and sellers have been trapped in a stressful system full of delays and uncertainty.

“So we’re going to put the consumers back in the driving seat. We will require estate agents to hold a qualification so that people are no longer at risk from a minority of ‘rogue agents’ and can trust the process when buying or selling their home.”

Meanwhile, the 2018 Homeowners Survey, an annual study conducted by the HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance, and polled by YouGov, shows that 82% of UK adults welcome the regulation of estate agents.

READ MORE: An estate agent’s secrets to selling your home at the price you want

Kim Vernau, Chief Executive of BLP Insurance, says: “[The] announcement from the government is a welcome first step towards improving the house purchasing process for consumers. 

“As is evidenced by the results of the 2018 Homeowners Survey, consumers wish to see improvements across the selling and purchasing process. The use of voluntary reservation agreements to prevent sales falling through and a crackdown on gazumping will serve to ease the stress that purchasers have to endure.

“Clarifying the forms of redress available to purchasers post-sale would also support purchasers in resolving issues swiftly and effectively.”    

Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director of Search Acumen, which also welcomes the measures, says that the government has to ride a “growing wave of proptech ambition, action and innovation” to realise its goals.

He said: “The future vision is ambitious, and accessing local authority searches within 10 days won’t be possible overnight when this process can currently take more than 40 days. However, this is one area where innovation can take us to an even better place. If 10 days is possible in the foreseeable future, why not 10 minutes or 10 seconds ultimately?”