27 February 2024 - The regulation of property agents - Oral evidence

Committee to begin inquiry on regulation of property agents

The Industry and Regulators Committee will begin a short inquiry into the regulation of property agents by hearing from campaigners for renters and leaseholders. As part of the inquiry, the Committee will examine the current approach to the regulation of sales, letting and managing agents in the property sector, and in particular whether there should be a new regulator of property agents, as recommended previously by the Government and the Regulation of Property Agents working group in 2019. The Committee will consider why the Government has not legislated for a new regulator, and to what extent recent housing policy and legislation has addressed the concerns that led to calls for one. The inquiry will discuss what a potential new regulator could look like, what objectives, functions and powers it could have, and how it could be funded.

In this session, the Committee will seek to understand the challenges that renters and leaseholders face when dealing with property agents, the extent to which a new regulator could tackle these challenges, and what a successful new regulator would look like for renters and leaseholders. The Committee will also consider the current system of complaints and redress for renters and leaseholders and whether greater consumer representation is needed.