Notification of these expulsions has been shared with all relevant bodies, including both Local and National Trading Standards for further investigation. Propertymark Protected agents are voluntarily regulated to ensure that they are working to a higher standard than demanded of them by law through continued professional development and supporting resources to provide qualifications.
Client Money Protection
As of 1 April 2019, letting and property management agents are required to belong to a Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme if holding client money. These exclusions highlight the importance of adhering to standards set out by TPO, as there are consequences for agents that are non-compliant, including potentially being banned by relative authorities to carry out any future agency business.
TPO’s agreement with the Property Redress Scheme means that not only will expelled agents not be able to register for any form of redress but any new company set up by the same directors will not be accepted for redress membership until the Ombudsman’s award is paid.
Find out more about Client Money Protection →
Redress scheme guidance
To ensure best practice, remember to:
- Make sure your business is signed up with an approved redress scheme for the correct line of work (sales, lettings or property management work).
- Review your existing terms of agreement/membership to ensure your redress scheme covers the full activities of the business.
- Check the terms of agreement/membership to confirm if your business is required to pay membership for individual branches.
Fact sheet: Client Money Protection for letting and managing agents
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 enables the Secretary of State to require that letting and property agents in England belong to a government-approved Client Money Protection scheme.
Marketing properties
Other reasons for expulsion included the inability to provide a service consistent with best practice when marketing properties for sale.
Propertymark’s Sales Protocol Toolkit includes a Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), which helps agents understand the property details that should be disclosed to potential buyers. By law, agents must disclose anything within their knowledge that would affect the transactional decision of the average consumer.
Sales Protocol Toolkit
The toolkit offers huge potential to speed up transactions, reduce fall-through rates and comply with Consumer Protection Regulations.
Those found to be in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 could face both an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment of up to two years.
Find an expert
Propertymark members have voluntarily chosen to become regulated by Propertymark to showcase their commitment to higher standards. Use our search to find a Propertymark Protected member in your area.
