‘I am against more regulation of estate agents’, says Hollinrake

Shadow housing minister Kevin Hollinrake has said neither he nor Kemi Badenoch support Labour’s plans to regulate estate agents.

Hollinrake made the comments during an interview with SKY business journalist Ian King at Friday’s The Negotiator Conference, putting him at odds with not just the Government but also previous Tory policy.

The Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) proposals date back to 2019 when the then Theresa May-led administration published the Lord Best work group’s proposals on how to take regulation of the sector forward.

But successive Tory housing secretaries kicked the proposals into the long grass, much to the ire of Lord Best. Asked whether he supported RoPA, Hollinrake told delegates at the conference that he was “totally against the proposals and, I hope I’m not stepping outside my remit when it say it, so is Kemi”.

“In my view the industry is far more accountable and is giving a better service than it ever has largely because it’s competitive – everyone in business relies on their reputations and no more so than agents, who in many cases put their own names above the door and operate in local communities.

“The redress schemes already bring a significant benefit in terms of consumer outcomes and is done in a way which is relatively light touch.”

Brought to book

Hollinrake added that he thought ‘after the rules’ regulation was the best because rules are set, and then those who transgress them are brought to book.

Otherwise, he said, an army of ‘box tickers’ would be created that would be expensive to operate – as the FCA’s oversight of the financial sector is – and would add costs to the property industry.

Hollinrake, who founded estate agency Hunters, also said he’d prefer to see Government resources spent on speeding up transaction times rather than regulating agents further.