Estate agents back tougher regulation to root out cowboys

Posted: 31 Jan 2007 10:10:35 GMT

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has said that it is backing a call for mandatory licensing for agents to weed out cowboys hurting the industry's reputation

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has said that it is backing a call for mandatory licensing for agents to weed out cowboys hurting the industry's reputation.

The call was made yesterday by Halifax, as a new bill to establish an industry ombudsman to rule on consumer complaints begins to be read in the Lords.

The bill will still fall short of the powers required to reduce abuses however, said Halifax, which called for minimum training standards and individual agent licensing.

"We have been calling for the government to introduce better regulation of estate agency through licensing for some time," said head of the NAEA Peter Bolton King.

"UK estate agency has for a long time been plagued by the actions of a rogue minority, with both consumers and agents suffering as a result."

He added that the NAEA already provides an industry qualification, and said that any new rules must work alongside the NAEA's own disciplinary rules.

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