Finally! CIELA to launch in April and tackle rogue agents head on

The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents or CIELA has revealed that it will launch on 2nd April 2018 despite several false starts.

Soft launched in March to gauge levels of support among independent agents, it then announced in June that it had too few members to go to a full launch, then revealed that it would kick off a full membership plan in July before announcing in October that it would cancel everything.

CIELA now says it believes there is a place for an organisation because, its recent research among the industry and members shows, many agents view rogue operators as the biggest threat to the industry, not online agents, the tenant fees ban or corporates.

In a statement released this morning, CIELA says it believes looming government regulation of the industry via organisation such as the NAEA and ARLA will not be effective.

Rogue directory

Instead, it is to launch a directory of legally-compliant agents that can be searched by anyone and be used by any agent regardless of size to prove their integrity and download a certificate.

A system to enable rogue agents to be reported for non-compliance with industry regulations and relevant UK laws will also be launched.

CIELA says it will continue to fight misleading advertising – of the kind it reported Purplebricks to the Advertising Standards Authority for – but won’t continue to campaign against the tenant fees ban.

“We composed a compelling argument against its passage, and began to devise a plan as to how to get involved,” a CIELA spokesperson says.

“After extensive discussions, our members and other consulting agents made it clear that while they too think the Ban is an ill-conceived plan – i.e. the wrong solution to a serious problem – they are not threatened or concerned about its passage.

“CIELA will not act when our members do not find it a priority to do so.”