The Bill, which forces all agents to sign up to a redress scheme so clients can claim should they feel they have been the subject of unfair treatment, has been welcomed by the NAEA as a major step forward.
However, it believed there were a number of other areas which needed to be addressed for real progress to be made.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive at the NAEA, commented: “While the latest legislation is certainly welcome, moving forward there are a few key issues still to be dealt with. As we have said before, redress on its own is not enough. Initiatives need to be put in place to prevent bad practice from happening in the first instance. By requiring all agents to belong to an approved industry body with competency standards the government could very easily address this issue.
“The issue of redress for residential lettings also needs to be addressed. The lettings market is extremely active in the UK, yet no provision has been made to provide compensation for consumers who deal with lettings agents in the latest Bill.”
Darren Pescod, managing director of The Mortgage Broker, said: “Some sort of code of practice or regulations which would help combat bad practice at the start would be beneficial to all. From a mortgage point of view, I hope to see the end of clients being forced by estate agents to use in-house brokers by threatening them with losing the property.”
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