Proposed Regulations, Licensing & Training

Are you a serious Letting Agent?

Revolutionary proposals are being set in place for agency regulation, licensing and training

The government has published proposals for far-reaching changes to the way estate and letting agents are regulated, trained and licensed. The proposals have come from the Regulation of Property Agents’ Working Party, set up last year by the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government and led by Lord Richard Best. In his report, the main recommendation is that a separate regulating body be established to oversee and guide the industry forward to a more professional and qualified industry. The Regulator will introduce licensing for all operators and the licence will include:

I have predicted, for some years, the need and inevitability of licensing for both Agency and, to follow, all Landlords. It is anticipated that over a million properties in the UK are self-managed; therefore, for this regulation to be effective, it will have to cover this independent management activity as well. It is good news as far as we are concerned! If you take the regulation of the financial advisory (IFA) industry, there were 200,000 pre-legislation and only 40,000 post. It is widely believed that Agency licensing and better regulation will have the same effect, leaving a massive vacuum in property management for those compliant to take advantage of the pending opportunities.

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