The Government has announced that they will improve the regulation of estate agents after the issue was raised in the House of Commons. The Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons said 'The Government is looking at ways of improving agents' regulation, and we will put in place arrangements to ensure consumers get redress from an independent body when they have legitimate grievances against estate agents'.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders considers that this move would increase confidence in the estate agency market, though this in itself may not be enough. They believe that the only way of ensuring ongoing public confidence will be to regulate estate agents in the same way that financial services are regulated.
Our view
Anything that protects the consumer from unscrupulous agents is a good thing. Of course, the ones that are honest workers will also get caught in the same paper and reporting mountain.