In Parliament
MP Welcomes New Protection for Homebuyers 08 July 2008
Greater Protection for Homebuyers
Jessica Morden MP for Newport East today welcomed new measures introduced by the Government to provide extra protection for people buying and selling their home.
The new protection will mean that it will be essential for all residential estate agents to belong to a redress scheme by 1st October. As a result of the measures the Office of Fair Trading will have greater powers to remove rogue estate agents from the market, and enforcement officers will have stronger investigatory powers.
Jessica Morden MP said ‘these are important measures to protect home owners. Buying and selling our home is often the largest financial transaction we make and people need to know that they are protected if things go wrong.'
Jessica went on to say ‘Figures from the OFT that show 21% of sellers and 23% of buyers experience problems with estate agents, are very worrying. With over a quarter of transactions are facing difficulty these new measures will be important to many, many people in Newport East and across the country.
There will be a penalty charge of £1,000 for estate agents that don't comply with the requirement to join a redress scheme. The penalty charge is in addition to the ultimate sanction for non-membership - a prohibition order banning an estate agent from carrying out estate agency work.
Estate agents in England and Wales that market properties with Home Information Packs (HIPs) are already required to belong to approved redress schemes solely for the purposes of complaints about estate agents in relation to HIPs. These new measures go further by covering all estate agents in the UK and all complaints about the buying and selling of residential property. It fulfils a long standing Government commitment to give all sellers and buyers (including potential sellers and buyers) of residential property access to independent redress.
Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform said ‘People who experience problems with an estate agent will soon have access to a free, easy to use ombudsman. The scheme will be transparent, independent and fair. It will speedily resolve complaints and will have the power to award compensation.
Buying or selling your home is a life changing decision. It can cause people real stress and worry. Our measures should take some of this worry away and drive out the rogues that give honest businesses a bad name.'