Will the General Election scupper RoPA?
Safeagent says estate agents should not assume the RoPA proposals are a done deal until it's clear who is in power after the election.
Safeagent has warned the industry that regulation of estate agents through the RoPA proposals is not the done deal that many other organisations present it as.
Isobel Thomson, Safeagent’s CEO, says the General Election has thrown the RoPA proposals into question because neither Labour or any of the other political parties have officially supported it.
Accepted not adopted
Thomson has also told The Negotiator that although many organisations are excited by the proposed professionalisation of the industry, the government has only ‘accepted’ Lord Best’s report and that it has yet to say it will adopt all of the RoPA recommendations.
“Prior to the General Election being triggered there was no government announcement on RoPA,” she says.
“We don’t know which political party is going to form the next government and we don’t know what their attitude to RoPA might be.
“But we do want movement on this; Safeagent wants regulation of agents in whatever form that takes.”
Approved Body
If the Conservatives do win a majority and it does accept all of the RoPA recommendations, Thomson has confirmed that Safeagent would hope to gain Approved Body status and play a part in helping its members implement the new rules on agent licencing, qualifications and working with the new regulator.
Other items within Safeagent’s manifesto include reforming the more than 600 licencing schemes that are now operated by local authorities around the UK.
Thomson says the poor way they are operated by councils is the main reason why, particularly for Select Licensing schemes in London, a minority of properties are registered with the schemes.
She claims that the schemes are not being run with the interests of tenants in mind, and are hard for landlords and letting agents to deal with.
Read the Safeagent manifesto in full.