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Redress for Complaints Against Estate Agents

It is the Government's intention that estate agents in the UK should be required to belong to a redress scheme covering all estate agency complaints related to the buying and selling of residential property. The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress (CEAR) Act, which obtained Royal Assent on 19 July 2007, makes provision for this.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is currently considering applications by scheme operators to run redress schemes. The applications, and the approval criteria against which the OFT is judging them, can be found by following this link.

The Secretary of State can only make an order requiring estate agents to belong to an approved redress scheme once the OFT has approved at least one scheme open to all estate agents. The OFT has announced that it is considering certain issues relating to the operation of redress schemes raised by applicants in the course of the assessment process. In view of this BERR has agreed with the OFT that there will be a delay to the planned commencement date on 6 April.

Once CEARA 07 comes into force and the redress provisions are implemented, the Housing Act provisions relating to Home Information Pack (HIP) redress schemes will be repealed. They will no longer be required as HIP-related complaints will be covered by CEARA 07 redress schemes.

Complaints related to HIPs

HIPs were introduced in England and Wales on 1 August 2007 and now apply to all homes regardless of size put on the market. Sellers of properties need to have commissioned a HIP before putting their property on the market. Any estate agent in England and Wales marketing a property requiring a HIP must belong to an approved redress scheme. This means consumers have access to redress for HIP-related complaints against estate agents.

Redress schemes approved to date under the Housing Act 2004, for the purpose of dealing with HIP-related complaints are:

- Ombudsman for Estate Agents’ HIPs redress scheme

- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Surveyor Ombudsman Scheme

- IDRS Ltd Property Adjudication for Consumers Scheme (PACS)