Everyone knows that the Estate Agency Affairs Board has been a joke and its transformation into the Property Professionals Council is not likely to change that situation very soon.
But the new Property Practitioners Act which came into effect on February 1, 2022, adds some heavyweight changes that could affect the industry severely.
Firstly, developers will not be able to sell their own units without being registered with the board.
Normally developers develop in different entities from their own businesses to keep each project isolated from a financial control point of view.
Only staff directly employed by the development company would be allowed to sell units for the developer.
In future anyone who does any letting, selling, or management on behalf of another will need to be registered as a property professional representative with the council.
No transfers will be registered by conveyancers without a certificate confirming that the company and agent involved are registered with the board.
This is coming rapidly into place and is a bit of a joke given the difficulty of registering new agents.
Some companies who are not registered as estate agents will not be able to register as they lack the three-year qualification to become principals.
Among others, the Property Practitioners Act 22 aims to: provide for the regulation of property practitioners; provide for the continuation of the Estate Agency Affairs Board as the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority; provide for consumer protection; provide for transformation of the property practitioners sector; provide for the establishment of the transformation fund and establishment of the research centre on transformation; provide for compliance with and enforcement of the provisions of the Act; and provide for the continuation of the Estate Agents Fidelity Fund as the Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund.
- Mike Spencer is the founder of Platinum Global, a professional associated property valuer and consultant with work across the country as well as Eastern Europe and Australia.