Press Release
New Rights For Home Buyers And Sellers
Last year Tom Clarke MP consulted Homeowners in a bid to establish their views when buying and selling a home. The MP is delighted that the Government has introduced extra protection for people in this process. All residential estate agents are now required to belong to a redress scheme by 1st October this year. These new arrangements will come into force in October 2008 and give greater powers to the Office of Fair Trading to remove rogue estate agents from the market, and increase the investigatory powers of enforcement officers.
Mr Clarke said: “People just assumed that estate agents were all registered and were shocked to discover the opposite was the case. Research commissioned by the OFT showed that 21% of sellers and 23% of buyers experience problems with estate agents. This was borne out to be very similar to the consultation process that I conducted. The Estate Agents Redress Act 2007 enables the Secretary of State by Order, to require estate agents who engage in residential estate agency work to join an approved redress scheme dealing with complaints from buyers and sellers of residential property. Responsibility for approving one or more redress schemes lies with the Office of Fair Trading”.
The MP continued: “Recently I received an enquiry from a constituent who considered that they may have grounds to complain about a local estate agent. My constituents were astonished to discover the actual estate agent was not in fact registered. It was abundantly clear to me that people buying and selling a home needed far more protection than they were getting. So I welcome the decision to put all estate agents on the same footing”.
“This order covers all estate agents in the United Kingdom and all complaints about the buying and selling of residential property. It fulfils a long standing Government commitment to give all sellers and buyers, including potential sellers and buyers of residential property access to independent redress”.
The MP outlined the terms of the new order when he explained: “The Government’s estate agents measures were part of the Consumer, Estate Agents and Redress Act that received Royal Assent in July 2007. In the first instance there will be a penalty charge of £1,000 for estate agents that don’t comply with the requirement to join a redress scheme. The penalty charge is in addition to the ultimate sanction for non-membership – a prohibition order banning an estate agent from carrying out estate agency work”.
The MP concluded: “People who experience problems with an estate agent will soon have access to the ombudsman. The scheme will be transparent, independent and fair. It will speedily resolve complaints and will have the power to award compensation. Buying or selling your home is a life changing decision. It can cause people real stress and worry. These new integral protection measures totally favour constituents and should take some of this worry away and drive out the rogues that give honest businesses a bad name.”