The initiative has come out of the Best Practice Guidelines for Professional Estate Agents and Property Portal Websites, which was launched in October last year with the intention of developing the confidence of homebuyers and sellers in doing business over the internet.
The initiative covers a number of key areas for end-users including: transparency and quality in the conduct of business, honesty and accuracy in obtaining property details and of property information, respect for the privacy and security of estate agents' property and the data of other users, rules for how payment can be taken from users via an estate agent's web site and reliability in the transfer of information.
The initiative was set up, and is supported, by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA)
Hugh Dunsmore-Hardy, chief executive of the NAEA, said response to the guidelines had been positive, and demonstrated a willingness to drive the residential property sector to deliver more reliable and up to date information to consumers.
"It is essential for the long term credibility of organisations using the Internet as part of their marketing or trading that their policies on matters such data protection, security, permissions and payment are clearly set out and adhered to.
"Those adopting the guidelines can demonstrate their commitment to quality and help build their reputation with their customers. The industry working group is now urging more agencies and portals to support and adopt the guidelines by publishing them on their own web sites," said Dunsmore-Hardy.
