With the ever-changing regulatory landscape and resources continually stretched, the pressure is on property agents to stay on top of compliance, specifically with the increased enforcement activity from Trading Standards.
Calm about compliance
A compliance support service was launched in December 2022, which is a heavily subsidised service developed by Propertymark to support members and sees Darren Kitchenside join the team, bringing his breadth of experience in audits, complaints handling and deposit protection.
Calm about compliance
Calm about Compliance brings our expertise, as the sector's leading professional body, into your office. Our team of experienced auditors will advise you 1:1 on your agency’s compliance, helping you avoid the hazards that regularly lead to local authority fines.
Kitchenside previously worked for My Deposits for 12 years gaining valuable experience talking to agents and landlords and managing a complaints procedure. He was then integral in shaping their audit department, focusing on high deposits pools using his expertise of attention to detail, carrying out his role as Risk and Audit Officer. Prior to that, Kitchenside gained experience in residential property transactions from working as a mortgage packager.
Supporting member agents through checking a range of different compliance requirements ensures that any anomalies are identified and discussed, correcting anything that could lead to enforcement action or fines Kitchenside, along with the other auditors, will advise how the right provisions can be set in place, as well as make sure the highest professional standards are met and maintained by Propertymark member agents.
What I like about Calm about Compliance is that it shows the positive connotation of an audit, as many agents don’t think happy thoughts when being audited, but we are there to show members how they and their business can benefit from it.
With legislation constantly changing, agents need to understand it and implement so much into their daily lives, and Propertymark is here to help them understand why regulation is in place and remain compliant.
We are delighted to welcome Darren to the Compliance Team and look forward to him becoming an active member of the Audit Team.
He has brought a different perspective to the Team, given his employment experience, which has already proven to be a valuable asset for Propertymark. I am sure that members will benefit from Darren’s knowledge to help them ensure they are operating to the highest standards that we expect of our membership.
