There’s a warning this morning that the root-and-branch reform of the agency industry recommended by a government-backed working party will be “toothless” if it isn’t supported by effective resources.

The warning comes from the National Landlords Association’s chief executive Richard Lambert, who was a member of the Regulation of Property Agents’ working group which reported yesterday.

“[A] new regulator will be toothless if the government continues to fail to provide the resources to enforce existing legislation, let alone any new requirements” says Lambert.

“Our research shows that local authorities are currently failing to enforce against rogue letting agents, with more than half not prosecuting a single letting agent in the four-year period from 2014/15 to 2017/18” he adds.

And Lambert concludes: “This report provides a clear and effective structure for the future regulation the property sector and it makes sense to focus on the professional agency sector first. However, the onus is now on the government to implement these proposals, and ensure the regulator is fully functional before rolling it out to cover self-managing private landlords.”

The Regulation of Property Agents working party recommends:

– a new independent regulator to lead a new public body to oversee a new regulatory regime for property agents; 

– the new regulatory regime will be binding on companies, and certain individuals, that act as intermediaries to property transactions; 

– those who are regulated will have to be licensed by the new regulator;

– the regulator will also be responsible for an overarching statutory code of practice, with different parts binding on agents depending on their area of work;

– a new ‘modular’ approach to qualifications, required for individuals within regulated companies “allowing agents to become proficient in those aspects of property agent work as suits the needs of their role and career, subject to minimum requirements”; and

– the new regulator is central to “a system of enforcement and redress which takes on, at their discretion, the support of national and local trading standards, of redress schemes, and of professional bodies.”

You can see a fuller summary of its proposals here.