A major change that would lead to registration of individuals working within residential estate agency is being proposed by a leading industry figure.

Bill McClintock, chairman of the board of the company operating the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) scheme, says the time has come when the residential property industry must address the registration problem. He is in talks with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP), the Register of Estate Agents (ROEA), the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) and Government departments in order to drive the scheme forward.

Mr McClintock, who this year celebrates 50 years in the industry, says he has long held the view that estate agents should be registered in order to protect consumers and that the latest round of legislation has now made this feasible without waiting for a fresh Act of Parliament.

“Under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act, which came into effect on October 1, 2008, every residential estate agency handling property sales has to be a member of an approved redress scheme,” he explains.

“This means that every residential sales estate agency in the UK has to belong to the OEA or the Surveyors Ombudsman Scheme (SOS). OEA now has almost 95 per cent of UK residential estate agencies registered with it so between us and SOS we should know of every business trading in the UK. Any we don't know about are now operating outside the law.

“Both schemes operate to a Code of Practice and it is a straightforward matter to amend both Codes to include a requirement for all member agents to use only registered staff to advise on property values or negotiate sales.

“My idea is that all existing agents would initially be registered. After one year, those joining the industry would be required to train in order to join the register and those already in the industry would be required to demonstrate they had achieved at least that minimum standard in order to remain registered.

“One of the arguments against registration is that it is a barrier to entry to the profession but that, of course, is nonsense. To be a driving instructor in the UK you have first to register and then become the holder of a provisional permit to work while you demonstrate your proficiency and pass an exam.

“There are many other professions where a competence to do the job has to be demonstrated and that is not seen as a restraint of trade, so estate agency could easily be viewed in the same light.

“The big concern over the years is that individuals who break the rules or who are not professionally competent can easily move to a job in another estate agency, maybe in a different part of the country, and just start working again. Employers have nothing they can check to ensure the honesty or suitability of a job candidate.

“NFOPP and RICS already run training schemes for estate agents and require their members to undergo continuing professional development and this standard would make a good starting point for the registration requirement.

“New legislation has given the industry the opportunity to take the initiative and itself introduce registration quickly, efficiently, and fairly to those who already work in the sector. I would consider the cost to be minimal and it could even be included in the membership fees of professional bodies.

“The public would be able to access the list of registered estate agents through any of the organisations backing the scheme, so checking credentials would be simplicity itself.

“It is now almost 20 years since the Ombudsman scheme started and 11 years from the date when it was opened up to all estate agents. It has brought consumers the benefit of redress at no cost to them and every member must have professional indemnity insurance.

“During all the time I have been in the industry there have been frequent calls for some sort of licensing or registration scheme and now we have the chance to bring this major benefit with minimum disruption. I see this as an industry-wide scheme and engaging all the professional bodies and unaffiliated practising estate agents rather than something run by OEA as an individual organisation.

“The bones of the scheme are in place and with backing from the Office of Fair Trading and the department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform we could have this established very quickly. Everyone I have spoken to within the industry is supporting this and wants to see it implemented.”

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Editor's note:

Bill McClintock took his first job in estate agency when he joined Henry Duke and Son in Dorchester in 1959 as an articled clerk. He moved to Hampshire in 1964 and rose to become managing director of Royal Life Estates South with a chain of 250 offices, joining the main board of Royal Life Estates (750 offices) from 1988 to 1992.

In 1992 he acquired a substantial shareholding in Cornerstone Estate Agencies (347 offices) when it was purchased from Abbey National and sold out in 1995 to become international development director of Hamptons with specific responsibility for Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.

On his return to the UK, he headed the overseas division at Hamptons before becoming a co-founder of the Guild of Professional Estate Agents, an affinity group of about 500 estate agents across the UK dedicated to improving standards. It also owns the fast growing Fine and Country brand with 300 offices.

In 2003 he became the chief operating officer of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents for the UK and in 2004 was appointed chairman, a post he currently holds.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS), a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (FNAEA), and a Member of The International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI). He also has experience in the commercial property field and has been involved in a significant number of developments let to Government departments as well as shopping and office developments principally in London, the South East, and Wales.

For more information, contact Maurice Hardy, PR for the OEA, on 01264 771661 / 07831 272220