The government has formed a consultory group of bodies, dubbed the MHCLG Working Group, to advise the government on specialist housing matters including the regulating of lettings, sales and block management sectors and to introduce a recognised qualification for property managers.
The working group includes RICS, IRPM, National Trading Standards, Professor Hedges, PropertyMark, Leasehold Advisory Service, Ombudsman Services, The NLA and Citizens Advise. The group will be tasked with advising on the introduction of mandatory qualifications for all property agents, aiming to provide the customer with more protection from unreasonable fees and substandard service.
The working group will consider the entire property agent sector to ensure any new framework, including any professional qualifications requirements, a Code of Practice, and a proposed independent regulator, is consistent across letting, managing and estate agents.