Please Note: All references to the masculine include the feminine on TPO website and documents.

News From The Property Ombudsman Board

April 2013
Boost to protection for consumers using lettings agents

Housing Minister Mark Prisk has promised legislation to bring residential lettings agents within the scope of The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act, for better consumer protection.

The move has been welcomed by The Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, as a positive step to raise consumer protection by giving access to an independent disputes resolution mechanism and also an opportunity to raise standards across an industry thought to handle £14 billion a year, earning £1 billion for itself in the process.

The government's proposal will oblige letting and managing agents and those agents engaged in leasehold management to offer landlords and tenants access to an approved redress scheme.

Mark Prisk's move comes on the day the House of Commons was to be asked to vote on an amendment to the ERR proposed by Baroness Diane Hayter and supported in the House of Lords that would have brought lettings agents within the scope of the Estate Agents Act 1979 and therefore within the scope of CEARA.

But Mr Prisk, following meetings with TPO and other organisations within the residential property industry, now proposes to bring forward his own legislation that will meet demands by requiring lettings agents to provide redress but not making them subject to EAA.

The Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, and chairman of the TPO operating company, Bill McClintock, are accepting an invitation to help Mr Prisk bring about his legislative changes in the shortest possible timescale once ERR passes into law.

Mr Hamer said: 'I have been pressing for such a change for a number of years and I therefore very much welcome the government's approach to this important element of consumer protection. I supported Baroness Hayter's proposed amendment which would have resulted in a similar outcome.

'In discussion with the Housing Minister, I was aware that he fully understood that regulation of letting agents was a relevant issue. Whilst full regulation is not yet on the agenda the introduction of compulsory redress brings about a level playing field for the industry and it will mean that a consumer has access to independent dispute resolution regardless of which agent they use.

'I look forward to working with the Minister as the government consults on the introduction of the legislation.'

Bill McClintock, Chairman of the TPO Board who represents TPO member firms, added: 'The industry has been fully behind tougher legislation which puts control on the operation of letting agents – more than 60 per cent of firms in the sector have already joined our scheme voluntarily.

'Our concern has always been the protection of consumers from the activities of agents without any commitment to redress and this commitment from Mark Prisk is a real opportunity to harmonise legislation for agents and consumers alike and will be welcomed by the industry.'

April 2013
New Window Stickers

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ceased its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme from 1 April 2013. However, please note that the Code of Practice itself still applies.

As a consequence, it has now withdrawn the right to use its OFT Approved Code Logo, meaning all Member Sales Agents of The Property Ombudsman scheme are no longer authorised to display the OFT Approved Code logo in any form including in displays on marketing material, website advertising, window displays, or in any other promotional material.

New TPO sales window stickers have been posted to all members within the last couple of weeks and consumer notices to be included with existing literature can be downloaded from the TPO website under the 'Forms and Information' section here.

It is imperative that the new window sticker and consumer notices (for existing literature stock) are used with immediate effect. To continue to display the OFT Approved Code logo on your premises could be construed as misleading.

Regarding future code approval, as yet we have not finalised any arrangements with the Trading Standards Institute who will be running the new Consumer Code Approval Scheme.

If in any doubt, TPO's Membership Team will be able to answer any queries you may have concerning the provision and use of our logos. They can be contact on 01722 333306 (option 3) or via email at membership@tpos.co.uk.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs)

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 will have a significant impact on how both Sales and Lettings Agents conduct their business. The OFT has issued guidance as to how Estate Agents can comply (we understand guidance for lettings firms will be issued shortly) but to assist TPO members firms further the Ombudsman has produced new best practice guidance.

In preparing the document the Ombudsman consulted with a wide range of firms and Trading Standards.

Please note the guidance is sales specific and will be developed for the lettings code.

The sales specific guidance can be found here: Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling with regard to lettings fee

The Ombudsman and I, along with representatives from ARLA, RICS and UKALA, have held a meeting with the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP), following the ASA's recent ruling. CAP has the responsibility for interpreting the ruling for practical application. The discussion was constructive and centred around the practicalities and approach to the disclosure of fees. CAP will be finalising its guidance in consultation with this group, but importantly agents should be made aware that no enforcement of the ruling will occur until the required guidance is finalised.

Grand Designs Live

Following last year's successful show, TPO has once again arranged with Grand Designs Live to offer you the chance to attend this year's event either for free (weekdays) or on two for one basis (weekends). Here is the marketing information along with the offer provided by the Grand Designs Live team:

Grand Designs Live returns to ExCeL London from 4-12 May 2013. Presented by design guru Kevin McCloud, and based on the Channel 4 series, the show offers visitors a unique opportunity to see all the latest trends for the home. With areas dedicated to interiors, technology, kitchens, bathrooms, build and gardens, and with more than 500 exhibitors, you can shop from a great selection of brands with 100s of items not available on the high street.

Claim your FREE tickets now*

Grand Designs Live has offered FREE weekday tickets for TPO members!
To claim your ticket, simply log on to www.granddesignslive.com, follow the link to book your tickets and enter the code TPOFREE to claim!

2 for 1 on weekend tickets**
If you can't attend during the week or would prefer to come at the weekend we also have a great 2 for 1 ticket offer on weekend tickets. Simply log on to www.granddesignslive.com, follow the link to book your tickets and enter the code TPO241 to claim. Or call the ticket hotline on 0844 854 1348 and quote TPO241 when booking.

*T&Cs - Offer valid on standard admission tickets only, offer ends 30th April 2013, tickets must be booked in advance, max 2 tickets per household, non transferable, print at home tickets only, tickets valid on any one weekday between 7th and 10th May 2013, subject to limited availability, tickets allocated on a first come-first served basis.
**T&Cs - Transaction fee of £1.70 applies per order. Tickets must be booked in advance. Offer ends 12th May 2013. Offer valid on standard admission tickets only. Saving based on the door rate.

Membership

Membership numbers continue to grow and the number for lettings offices is now tantalisingly close to 10,000.

At the end of March, there were 11,940 sales offices; 9,956 lettings offices; 1,343 commercial; 222 international; and 93 chattels offices covered by TPO.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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March 2013
Membership Notification

Representatives from TPO, ARLA, RICS and UKALA met with the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) on 22 March regarding the ASA ruling on disclosure of non-optional fees and charges to tenants.

CAP is the body responsible for issuing guidance on how, in practical terms, the obligations now placed on letting agents by the ASA ruling can be met. The group welcomed CAP's offer to the organisations attending the meeting for further involvement in process of defining the best approach for guidance.

CAP had provided in advance of the meeting some draft guidance which will now be developed further in the light of the discussions and in consultation with the group. The industry representatives emphasised where further detail would be helpful, specifically with regard to how the role of internet portals might need to be brought within the scope of the guidance. CAP recognised the importance of providing clear and relevant advice including illustrative examples. CAP also appreciated the need to finalise this guidance promptly.

At the meeting it was determined that:

The ASA ruling makes clear that consumers need more information up front about non-optional fees. It is highly likely therefore that agents will need to make changes to advertising across all forms of media to comply. However until the formal guidance is issued agents should ensure that their current advertisements do not disadvantage the consumer either by giving misleading information or by omitting material information. For the avoidance of doubt the ruling does not apply to fees payable by landlords to letting agents.

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January 2013
OFT decision forces TPO logo change

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is ceasing its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme from April 1.

As a consequence, it has withdrawn the right to use its OFT Approved Code Logo from March 31, 2013, meaning all Member Sales Agents of The Property Ombudsman scheme will no longer be authorised to display the OFT logo in any form including in displays on marketing material, website advertising, window displays, or in any other promotional material.

'The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) is the new body appointed to take over from OFT to run a similar scheme,' says Gerry Fitzjohn, chief operating officer of TPO.

'I have been considering whether or not to participate in the new scheme on the basis of cost, the recognition of the new 'brand' and whether it has meaning for consumers and member agents.

'As yet I have not had sufficient information to make a decision and TSI has not yet confirmed what their logo for the Scheme will be.

'TSI initially advised me that sales agents would have had a period of grace of up to one year within which to remove references to OFT, but now says that the OFT logos must be removed from April 1, 2013, and that a handover period is not possible.

'I fully appreciate it will be a difficult and potentially costly task to remove the logo and references to the OFT at short notice. I am urgently seeking to negotiate a satisfactory transition but until I achieve a successful outcome sales agents have no alternative but to remove OFT Logos and references to the OFT across their businesses with effect from April 1.

'In preparation for the changeover, we will supply all member agents with a 'The Property Ombudsman' logo (without the attached Approved Code logo belonging to the OFT) and will be making stocks of this generic logo available at no cost to replace existing window stickers.'

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January 2013
Taking a lead on lettings

In late November, TPO council chairman Lord Best organised an event at the House of Lords to launch a report on the current state of the lettings industry that he had commissioned from leading academic Professor Michael Ball.

'Regulating Residential Letting Agents: The Issue and the Options' was well received by an extensive and mixed group key organisations including ARLA, ARMA, CAB, DCLG, NAEA, NALS, NLA, OFT, RICS, Shelter, TDS, UKALA, Which?, and several lettings agencies in addition to senior personnel from TPO. As a result, Lord Best will lead a meeting with housing minister Mark Prisk later this month to impress upon him the desire for regulation of lettings agents. Mark Prisk is on record as supporting some form of regulation for lettings agents.

Tom Lynch, who heads the Property Services Regulatory Authority in the Republic of Ireland, also attended the event to outline how regulation of the property sales and lettings industry is organised in Ireland.

In his introduction to the report, Lord Best pointed out letting agents in Scotland and Wales already operate under more stringent conditions than their counterparts in the rest of the UK, who are thought to earn around £1 billion per annum from a market that brings in £14 billion.

All those attending the forum agreed to work together on further research following a very helpful discussion which got organisations that sometimes talk at each other to instead talk to each other, gaining a clearer picture of other people's viewpoints.

Attendees agreed that as regulation through legislation was not a Government priority it was their responsibility to work together and bring about a regime that reduces risk for the consumer. Lord Best will be seeking Government encouragement to maintain progress in this matter.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

All sales and lettings agents, both residential and commercial, need to be aware of important changes to the requirements regarding energy performance certificates (EPCs) that come into effect from 9 January 2013.

Broadly, the changes mean that it will no longer be necessary to attach the front page of the EPC to particulars; the actual energy rating should be shown on both particulars and all advertisements, with the graph shown where space allows; and that no EPC certificate will be required where the property can be described as "buildings and monuments officially protected as part of a designated environment or because of special architectural or historic merit in so far as compliance with certain energy efficiency requirements would unacceptably alter character or appearance." The guidance from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is that the exemption applies to all listed buildings, ie buildings that have been listed on http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/listing/listed-buildings do not need an EPC on their sale or rent. There are guidance documents which you will need to consider in relation to your business and these can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-the-energy-efficiency-of-our-buildings

As a matter of further advice, the EPC rating must be included in all commercial media which has been defined as meaning

This would embrace press releases prepared by or on behalf of the agent as well display advertising.

Awards are not negotiable

Members are reminded that when the Ombudsman has investigated a complaint and made award, the size of the award is non-negotiable.

There have been instances where members have responded to the Ombudsman with a counter offer. For the avoidance of doubt, the Ombudsman does not negotiate on the level of awards simply because the agent thinks it is too high.

Awards should also be paid promptly. Member firms have been expelled or downgraded when they have ignored the Ombudsman's decision and their case has been taken before the TPO independent council's Disciplinary and Standards Committee. These expulsions are always subject to a press release sent to local and property trade media. Trading Standards are also informed enabling them to check whether TPO logos are being used correctly.

Expelled firms are removed from our online member search facility and are forbidden to use any form of TPO logo to promote their business. Where firms are downgraded to the minimum registration requirement under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (CEARA), the separate sticker denoting this status is to be used.

TPO logos

Where membership is downgraded to the minimum registration requirement under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (CEARA), a 'TPO Registered Agent' sticker denoting this status is to be used.

However, agents who are full members must use the correct TPO logo that applies to them on relevant documentation, such as marketing literature, property advertisements and letterheads. There are still instances of members displaying the old black triangular OEA logo and these really should have been replaced as the OEA changed to TPO nearly four years ago. Websites, video window displays, and other digital marketing tools should also be checked to ensure the correct logo is in place.

If in doubt, TPO's Membership Team will be able to answer any queries you may have concerning the provision and use of our logos.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs)

The Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, has written an informative article to help sales and lettings agents understand their commitments under the existing CPRs.

The Ombudsman's article: 'Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 – When and what agents should disclose' is designed to provide assistance to agents on how to interpret the CPRs in different scenarios and can be accessed via the following link http://www.tpos.co.uk/news-11.htm

Third party disputes

There are some instances where people not directly involved in the sale or letting of a property can bring a complaint against a TPO member agent. The Ombudsman's Terms of Reference allow him to consider a complaint by a consumer who believes that they have been involved with, and adversely affected by, the actions of a member even if they have not entered into a contractual relationship with that agent.

The situation is probably best summed up by stating that if you are (or usually would be) earning a fee in relation to a property by marketing or managing it then a complaint can be brought against you by a third party in connection with your service if that service involves or affects them in some way.

An illustration that springs to mind is where a neighbour complains to a managing agent about something at the property that needs urgent attention because it affects them, such as a fence in a poor state of repair or blocked drains, and the managing agent fails to take necessary action.

It is not a common problem, although it's apparent that when situations such as these arise agents do not always realise there is a risk of a complaint being escalated to the Ombudsman. This is covered by the TPO Codes of Practice and I would urge all members to familiarise themselves with these requirements.

Membership

It's very pleasing that membership numbers are expanding and also encouraging that so many members voluntarily commit to the Lettings Code of Practice.

At the end of December (2011's figures in brackets) we had 11,933 sales offices (11,504); 9,748 lettings offices (8,701); 1,022 commercial (327); 190 international (78); and 61 chattels (16).

Finally, I wish you all a prosperous New Year.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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November 2012
Legislative Changes

The Government has recently announced changes to the laws governing estate agency.

Causing most alarm within the industry is the exclusion of passive intermediary businesses (IBs) from the definition of an estate agent in Section 1 of The Estate Agents Act 1979 (EAA).

The proposed amendment to the EAA will exclude IBs who:

However, an IB will fall under the scope of the EAA and be bound by its obligations if they:

These businesses will have to run very tight ships to ensure they do not become estate agents by doing more than is appropriate or allowed within the regulations.

Homebuyers and sellers using these IBs would be entering into an entirely private arrangement with the seller and buyer introduced via a website and the IBs would not be offering any type of help or advice in order to remain within the constraints of the new rules.

The Property Misdescriptions Act (PMA), the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Business Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (BPRs)

Existing sales and lettings agents will also be aware that the PMA is to be repealed some time after October next year. The Government considers that the principles of the PMA are covered by the existing CPRs and their commercial equivalent, the BPRs.

The CPRs and BPRs apply to all consumer transactions and although the legislation does not mention all forms of estate agency specifically, it is important to understand that letting transactions (as well as other forms of agency) are covered by the CPRs and BPRs.

The terms and how they should be applied to your business will not have come as a revelation as they have been in place since 2008 and are covered in the relevant Codes of Practice. Where the PMA included specific requirements for agents marketing a property, the CPRs are designed to cover the wide range of existing consumer transactions. The CPRs introduce the concepts of 'material' information which should be disclosed to the 'average' consumer. Precisely what constitutes 'material' information will differ depending on the circumstances of the transaction.

In short, under the CPRs and BPRs you are obliged to disclose information of which you are aware, become aware or should be reasonably aware or that could affect a consumer's 'transactional' decision (i.e. not just whether or not to proceed with a purchase or letting, but also including decisions such as choosing to view a property or ruling out a competitor's services). If information comes to you as the result of one sale or letting falling through, you should consider its relevance very carefully before deciding to ignore it. If in doubt, it is better to disclose than to hide something.

The Office of Fair Trading has produced a detailed guidance document to assist sales agents to comply with the CPRs which can be found here:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/estate-agents/OFT1364.pdf

TPO's full response to the proposed changes to the PMA and the EAA can be found here:

http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/TPO%20response%20to%20amends%20to%20the%20EAA%20and%20proposed%20repeal%20of%20the%20PMA.pdf

Cancellation periods

Some agents still appear to be confused over the Cancellation of Contracts Regulations 2008 when contracts are signed by consumers.

The law is very clear that if the contract to engage an agent's services is signed by the consumer away from the agent's premises then there is a seven-day cancellation period in which the consumer can decide not to proceed. Agents must give consumers a 'Notice of the Right to Cancel' when the contract is made and this has to include the following information:

There should be no penalty imposed in a contract for exercising this right.

If a consumer is likely to incur costs after signing the contract, for instance as the EPC is prepared ahead of marketing, then any cost liability should be clearly spelled out and agreed by the client in writing. If a seller instructs you to commence marketing immediately and before the seven day cancelation period has finished you again need to ensure you gain the consumer's written agreement that they agree to costs being charged if they cancel.

University of London Letting Agent Registration Scheme

The University of London Housing Services (ULHS) runs a registration scheme for Letting Agents looking to advertise their accommodation to students.

It is the largest student accommodation office in London catering for up to 140,000 students and its website of accommodation offers achieves in excess of 40,000 unique visitors a month in peak months.

ULHS recognises that not all letting agents are the same and that there are many operating which are not members of TPO. In order to ensure that its student clients deal with only reputable agents, an agent must demonstrate that it is a member of a ULHS preferred scheme. TPO is one of those schemes. Furthermore, ULHS recognises that by following the TPO Code of Practice and providing consumers with a route to redress, your business operates to a set of high standards and provides a level of consumer protection over and above that provided by non-registered agents.

ULHS will only refer its students to Letting Agents that it is confident will provide a good service and safe and reliable accommodation.

ULHS is always looking to hear from Agents offering accommodation in London who are interested in working with them. For more information please refer to the website: www.housing.london.ac.uk/cms/letting-agents or contact ULHS on 020 7862 8880.

Membership

Membership continues to grow, and as of October 31st we have 11,919 sales, 9,683 lettings, 910 commercial, 177 international, and 60 chattels offices in membership. It makes a very favourable comparison with the situation on December 31, 2011, when we had 11,504 sales, 8,701 lettings, 327 commercial, 78 international, and 16 chattels offices. The growth rate is most encouraging and I look forward to the trend continuing.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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August 2012
EAF Charity Bike Ride

You may have seen in the property trade press that the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, and the Board Chairman, Bill McClintock, made a tandem effort to help launch the EAF 3,000 mile charity bike ride that's currently under way.

It's an important charity that helps the homeless – if the event is passing your way please support it by going out to ride with the main group and inviting them back to your offices for refreshments and a comfort break.

Chris and Bill borrowed a tandem from Hayball Sportcycle in Salisbury to attend the ride's start in Exeter and set out for part of the first stage. It's not to say it all went downhill from there because they had to ride uphill to get back to where they had parked! EAF wants to raise £150,000 this year and if you are holding a fundraising event it's a good way of generating local publicity and making people aware that, as an industry, we seek to help the less fortunate.

CMP

We have been getting encouraging responses to the consultation on Client Money Protection and have received many more replies than we imagined we would. It's obvious that many of you have strong views on the topic.

We are now going through them all and taking note of what you have been saying. I'm not going to outline the way things are going because I don't want to influence responses by spurring those with an opposite view to the current majority to try to alter the outcome. However, it's a matter the Board intends to discuss and disclose in due course.

Benefits of TPO membership

We have now produced a brief leaflet to identify some of the benefits of TPO membership and explain them to those thinking of joining.

Your membership clearly demonstrates your commitment to quality and transparency and helps increase consumer confidence in your services. Paying attention to the Codes of Practice and ensuring your staff understand what they mean and how they apply to your business will also raise standards of professionalism.

Membership also saves you and your customers the expense of legal fees should a dispute arise because the service is free to access for consumers and TPO does not charge you a case fee.

The 'Benefits of TPO Membership' leaflet can be found at the top of the left column of the Members' Area of the website. A further leaflet explaining the consumer benefits of your TPO membership to your clients is in production.

Membership figures (current figures awaited)

As of July 31, we have 8,585 member firms operating 11,791 residential sale offices, 9,432 lettings, 728 commercial, 125 international and 40 chattels. We started the year with 8,280 member firms, 11,504 sales, 8,701 lettings, 327 commercial, 78 international, and 16 chattels offices. As you can see, we continue to make progress recruiting new members. It's gratifying to see the continuing rise in lettings offices but while attention has been focused there the growth for commercial, international, and chattels has also been beyond expectations.

TPO Twitter account

TPO now has its own Twitter account. You can follow @TPOmb on Twitter or by clicking the link at the foot of the right column on the TPO homepage.

The account already has a good following, with many in the industry as well as property journalists looking out for comments and links.

Tickets to Grand Designs

Grand Designs Live home show returns to the NEC from 12-14th October, 2012. Presented by Kevin McCloud, and based on the Channel 4 series, the show offers visitors an opportunity to see all the latest trends for the home.

With areas dedicated to interiors, technology, kitchens, bathrooms, build, and gardens, there's something for every room in the home. And with over 500 exhibitors, you can shop from a great selection of brands with hundreds of items not available on the High Street. If you are faced with suggesting show home items for developers or getting vendors to improve a property's appearance then there may be inspiration right here

We have teamed up with Grand Designs Live and have 200 pairs of tickets* to give away for the opening day. To claim your free Friday ticket, visit www.granddesignslive.com, go to 'book tickets', enter the promotional code TPOFREE when prompted, then simply print off your ticket.

If you can't make Friday then go along on Saturday or Sunday and take advantage of an exclusive 2 for 1 offer and save £19** Quote TPO241 when booking online or call the hotline - 0844 854 1348

T&Cs: *Free tickets- Offer valid on Friday 12th October 2012 only, offer valid on standard admission tickets only, offer ends 30/09/12, tickets must be booked in advance, max 2 tickets per household, non transferable, all tickets will be checked and verified on entry, print at home tickets only, subject to limited availability, tickets allocated on a first come-first served basis.

**2for1 offer: Transaction fee of £1.70 applies per order. Tickets must be booked in advanced. Offer ends 12/10/12. Offer valid on standard admission tickets only. Saving based on the door rate.

This is an offer for your benefit and not an endorsement of the show itself, the organisers, or any exhibitors.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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May 2012
Membership logos

I want to encourage every member of TPO to make more of the fact they have signed up for higher standards and have made commitments to our Codes of Practice.

It is a real advantage to consumers to know they are dealing with reputable estate and lettings agencies and members should be proud of this.

Members have to use logos on stationery but I would like this to be taken further, with our logo promoting your membership on websites and property portals. I am drawing up a brief description of what TPO membership means which you can place on your website to reinforce the message to your clients.

Lettings membership

You may have seen reports based on our press release marking the outstanding progress TPO has made in recruiting lettings firms into membership.

Redress for lettings agents was first introduced in April 2006, with backing from NAEA and ARLA, and by March 31 had risen to slightly more than 9,000 offices. Figures below show that the number grew by another 100 or so offices during April and by more than 460 since the start of the year. With so many calls for regulation of the lettings industry, and with a Government so reluctant to take action, it is good to know that so many lettings agents have voluntarily signed up to the TPO redress scheme.

On-line membership applications

We are now able to receive membership applications on-line and since this option was created in March we now have a 50 / 50 split between on-line and postal applications. Processing on-line forms is so much easier for staff and reduces the risk of mistakes being made through attempting to read poor handwriting and other problems.

At present, we are also working towards processing renewals on-line, too, but this is more complicated. Renewals by email and fax are encouraged – and popular with members as well as the team at head office – but as soon as we can move the process to entirely electronic we will let you know.

On the topic of renewals, it's important that you send back a fully completed renewal form that confirms you have Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance. PI is a requirement for both membership and CEARA registration and we need confirmation from you each year that it is in place.

Membership figures

As of April 30, we have 8,485 member firms operating 11,693 residential sale offices, 9,163 lettings, 530 commercial, 120 international and 30 chattels. We started the year with 8,280 member firms, 11,504 sales, 8,701 lettings, 327 commercial, 78 international, and 16 chattels offices. As you can see, we continue to make progress recruiting new members which has to be good for the industry, the scheme, and consumers.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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March 2012
First newsletter

This is my first newsletter to members on behalf of the company Board – it is a responsibility I have taken over from Bill McClintock in my new role as chief operating officer.

I intend to be in personal contact with members, as Bill has been over the years, and ensure I get out and about to meet members in different parts of the UK. I am looking forward to visiting agency offices but am also happy to hear from members who have particular issues they wish to discuss.

TPO Annual Report for 2011

The annual report, with the scheme's operating company's financial results for 2011, is expected to be published on or around March 12. There will be a strong message from the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, about standards within the lettings industry in particular.

TPO membership among lettings agency offices grew by almost 11 per cent during 2011, reflecting both the importance of the lettings sector and also an appetite among lettings agents to adhere to the high standards of our Code of Practice. The Ombudsman, and the rest of the senior team at TPO, are working hard to raise industry standards and will welcome support from the membership to reinforce the arguments for higher standards.

Letting survey

A reminder to agents that we are undertaking a survey of letting members to gain full OFT approval for the Letting Code of Practice and that we have already some interim results.

Of the 500 agents selected to carry out the survey, 300 have so far responded from which interim results have been prepared. We will be chasing the outstanding 200 whom are expected to comply and will release details of the complete survey when the results are complete.

Privacy policy

I would like to bring to your attention our new privacy policy which sets out how we use and protect your personal information that you give us. We are committed to protecting your privacy and this policy is in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. The full document can be viewed on our website at www.tpos.co.uk

Membership figures

At the end of January, we had 8,345 member firms operating 11,545 residential sales and 8,940 residential lettings offices. Commercial property activity was offered by 432 offices, international transactions by 99, and chattels sales by 28. At the end of December there were 8,280 member firms with 11,504 sales and 8,701 lettings office so TPO membership is continuing to grow at a healthy rate.

An invitation to Grand Designs Live

Grand Designs Live, the award-winning property show, returns to ExCeL London from May 5-13, 2012. Based on the Channel 4 TV series, presented by Kevin McCloud, it's the perfect place to come for design and inspiration, to help turn a dream home into a reality.

With areas dedicated to interiors, technology, kitchens, bathrooms, build and gardens, there's something for every room in the home. To see what's new this year, you can claim a free weekday ticket by logging on to www.granddesignslive.com and following the link to book your tickets. Enter the code TPO2012, together with your details, and you can then download a maximum of two tickets.

*Terms and conditions apply, see Grand Designs Live website for details. These are print-at-home tickets only and must be booked online with a maximum of two tickets per order. Tickets are valid for weekday entry on May 8-11, 2012, only and the offer excludes the Bank Holiday on May 7. The offer is subject to limited availability and closes on 31/03/2012.

This offer is not an endorsement of the show or its organisers by TPO but provided for the convenience of members.

Gerry Fitzjohn,
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the TPO Board.

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January 2012
New Chief Operating Officer

Gerry Fitzjohn has become chief operating officer for the company running The Property Ombudsman Scheme with effect from January 1.

Gerry became vice-chairman of the operating company in 2010, assisting me in my role as chairman and chief operating officer.

TPO has become the largest residential sales and lettings membership body within the UK property industry but there is still scope for growth, particularly in the lettings sector.

Gerry's role will be to take over the affairs of the company while I concentrate on new areas to help spread operating costs over a broader membership base going forward. The first phase of this activity has been the establishment of The Glazing Ombudsman.

I will continue in my role as board chairman of the TPO operating company, a post I have held since a year after I became chief operating officer in 2003, with Gerry Fitzjohn continuing as my deputy chairman in addition to his new responsibilities.

Membership fees

Membership fees are being realigned with effect from April 1, so that there is a common fee for all members no matter how many jurisdictions each office covers.

The effect is to simplify the membership process. Offices offering sales with lettings or another activity will automatically be covered for one or all without the need for a separate application or additional fees. New memberships have been on this basis for some time.

From April 1, a standard fee of £170 plus VAT per office will apply from next renewal, which occurs on the anniversary date of first joining the scheme. This means that renewals due before April 1 will be at the old rates and some members will not pay the new, realigned fee until as late as March, 2013.

Ultimately, this will simplify the membership enrolment and renewals process as well as removing any confusion for consumers as to which of a member's agency activities are covered.

The fee changes were first announced at the start of last year, when we made some initial realignment, our first fee changes for six years. The number of members offering more than one professional service has been increasing to the point where the majority now cover at least sales and lettings.

Codes of Practice

Our Code of Practice for Residential Sales achieved Office of Fair Trading (OFT) approval under the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme (CCAS) several years ago.

We have since applied for the same approval for our Code of Practice for Residential Lettings. CCAS has a two stage approval process and we completed Stage One in the summer. We are now working towards Stage Two of this process.

To achieve this, we must demonstrate to the OFT that our code is working well and, as part of this process, we will be carrying out quarterly customer satisfaction surveys with our members for lettings. We have arranged for Ipsos MORI, an independent market research company, to undertake the survey on our behalf. Taking part in this survey is a condition of your membership and we are making every effort to keep the survey as simple as possible.

The first quarterly survey commenced in October this year and Ipsos MORI contacted a random selection of members by email with a request for customer details so that they can then send out the questionnaires direct. However, to ensure that they were able to process personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, they requested that our members completed a Data Processor Agreement.

Since that time we have had discussions with senior estate agency executives who expressed disquiet about sending client details to Ipsos Mori. Whilst the process put in place complied totally with the Data Protection Act we do not want to insist on a process that was deemed unacceptable to our members. Therefore, we will use the tried and tested approach we have used for sales agents over the last eight years. This consists of a survey pack which contains all you need to complete the survey. No data protection agreement will be required.

Change to Letting Code of Practice

Following a meeting held with letting agents and others which the Ombudsman attended it became clear that Clause 3j of the letting Code of Practice took the Foxtons case precedent beyond what the Court had implied. The wording has been amended and will read:

'Your terms of Business must:

Use of logos

This part of my newsletter hardly seems to change but there really is no excuse for members displaying the old, triangular black OEA logo or, worse still, no logo at all. Displaying evidence of your membership is a requirement of joining the scheme and placing a new sticker on your window may be a fiddly nuisance but is hardly onerous.

In these times of increasing consumer awareness, surely it has to be a good thing to advertise that you offer a high level of consumer protection for the independent resolution of disputes. TPO is now the largest membership body within residential estate agency, so make full use of its high profile in all your marketing activities.

Membership numbers

We ended 2011 with a total of 8,280 member firms operating 14,006 branches. Of these, 11,504 dealt with residential sales and 8,701 residential lettings – obviously, many have a dual function. On January 1, 2011, there were 8,008 member firms operating 13,756 offices, with 11,321 offering residential sales and 7,851 residential lettings. It's significant that in a lacklustre period for the property market, membership continues to grow and I'm particularly pleased with the increase of almost 11 per cent in the number of members seeking TPO redress for their lettings activities. While there is little appetite among politicians to legislate with regard to lettings agency it's good to see so many lettings agents voluntarily providing a redress system for their clients.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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July 2011
Codes of Practice

There are just a few days remaining until the new TPO Codes of Practice come into effect on August 1. They are extremely important, so there is only one other topic in this newsletter.

Their arrival should come as no surprise as our intention to create these improved Codes has been signalled for some time and I sent out newsletter warning of them only last month. It is imperative that you make yourselves and your staff familiar with the Codes before August 1.

The Ombudsman will assess the agent's actions against the new codes for events occurring after the applicable date for new complaints that are brought to him. The standards defined in the existing codes will apply to events occurring before August 1 even if referral is to the Ombudsman after that date.

In general terms the codes have been reviewed and updated to reflect changes in market practice, legislation and in the light of disputes referred to the Ombudsman.

Although I listed these in my last newsletter, it's important that you are aware of the significant changes that have been made in relation to:

Sales

Lettings

One of the reasons for having the Codes is to promote best practice in the industry and to make compliance easier the Ombudsman has produced three supplementary guidance notes relating to:

I hope that you have made yourselves familiar with these Code changes and the revised guidance notes already and that, if you have not, you will do so very quickly and well before August 1. Ignorance will be no defence if you are subject to a complaint under the new rules.

Broadening membership

I have pleasure in welcoming members of the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers, who are now included in The Property Ombudsman scheme through their membership of the National Federation of Property Professionals.

You may also see in the trade and professional press that TPO is providing a Glazing Ombudsman scheme, which utilises our organisation on behalf of members of FENSA and other glazing firms.

It is pleasing that outside bodies recognise the strengths of our scheme and are keen to use it. We have also been offering our expertise to other Ombudsman schemes, both at home and abroad. This will not lead to a diminution and dilution of TPO. Instead, the funding from these outside bodies helps strengthen our business and spread its operating costs, alleviating their ongoing financial impact on member firms within estate agency.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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June 2011
Codes of Practice

You will be aware from the Ombudsman's Annual Reports in recent years that TPO has been in discussion with the OFT in regard to:

Those discussions continue, but in agreement with OFT, we have now decided to issue the revised Codes.

These will be applicable from August 1. In considering disputes referred to him, the Ombudsman will assess the agent's actions against the new codes for events occurring after the applicable date. The standards defined in the existing codes will apply to events occurring before the applicable date even if referral is to the Ombudsman after that date.

In general terms the codes have been reviewed and updated to reflect changes in market practice, legislation and in the light of disputes referred to the Ombudsman.

The significant changes are in relation to:

Sales

Lettings

Guidance Notes

To assist in interpreting the requirements of the Codes, as a way of promoting best practice and to contribute towards the avoidance of complaints arising in the first place, the Ombudsman has produced three supplementary guidance notes relating to:

Whilst the new Codes will not be introduced until August 1, the information contained in these guidance notes should prove useful to you from now on.

Logos

You should continue to display the OFT Approved Code logo in respect of your sales business but at this stage such logo must not be linked to the TPO Lettings logo.

You should ensure that the relevant TPO logo(s) and, where relevant, the OFT Approved Code logo is displayed prominently in all branch offices.

It's now two years since TPO was created out of the old Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme and there are still member agents who are failing to display the correct logo or sometimes any logo at all.

Your membership of the scheme sends the message to consumers that you care about your relationship so surely it makes sense to tell them of the efforts you are making. A simple window sticker can be a great ambassador for your business, but only if you can be bothered to display it.

Office move

TPO now has a new head office, still in the centre of Salisbury but in premises that are more efficient because all staff now have more space, even though they only occupy a single floor of the building.

The new address is Milford House, 43 – 55, Milford Street, Salisbury, SP1 2BP. The main telephone number remains unchanged – it's 01722 333306.

Charity bike ride

Mike and Maria Evans, who work at TPO head office, have completed an ambitious fundraising trip by undertaking a 495 miles pedal-powered two wheel trip, sometimes battling really severe weather and taking in the entire Scottish National Cycle Route.

The couple began their journey at the offices of TPO members Cumberland Estate Agents and then rode to Inverness, travelling via the Dumfries and Galloway coast, through Ayrshire and then central Scotland, to raise money for Help for Heroes and the Estate Agency Foundation charity. So far, they have been sponsored by Cumberland Estate Agents in Carlisle, where they started their journey, and Galloway and Ayrshire Properties in Newton Stewart.

The Estate Agency Foundation unites the estate agency industry and its customers to combat homelessness in the UK. EAF supports charities nationwide who help, for example, persons medically discharged from the Army, those raised in local authority care who have nowhere to go when they reach the age of 16, and sufferers with mental illness who are discharged from hospital with no care package or support system in place. Help for Heroes, of course, needs no explanation.

Mike and Maria are searching for more support - TPO has pledged to match every pound raised up to a maximum of £1,000 to be split between both charities. Already, Mike and Maria have raised £1,200 so TPO will increase this by £1,000. But it would be great if more estate agents would join in – they have had lots of support from former colleagues in Wiltshire Police and people living in their Wiltshire village but precious little from estate agents apart from the two I have mentioned despite the Ombudsman writing to all the member agents on their route.

Donations can be made until June 30 at www.justgiving.com/Mike-Evans4 for EAF and / or www.justgiving.com/Mike-Evans5 for Help for Heroes.

Membership growth

The pace of membership growth continues to be brisk – we now have 8,179 member firms operating 13,977 offices, 11,503 of these covering sales and 8,195 dealing with lettings. This compares very favourably with the 8,008 firms operating 13,756 offices at the start of 2011 (11,321 sales, 7,851 lettings).

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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January 2011
Major change to subscription system

Over many years TPO has been charging member firms for each office and each discipline carried on there, with the result that members carrying on both residential sales and lettings end up paying a substantially higher fee.

We have reviewed our processes and looked at the service we provide from the point of view of both the agent and the consumer. It is important that consumers are not confused as to what is covered by our Scheme and for these reasons the Board has decided to move to a single fee for the activities within the office for all the disciplines that we cover. The only exception is Property Management of blocks and multiple properties where the size of operations varies from company to company.

In order to achieve a single fee per office, the Board decided that this should be staggered over three years in total depending on when individual subscriptions fall due. We have therefore raised the single discipline, e.g. sales or lettings, with effect from April, 2011, to £140.00 plus VAT but have reduced the dual cost from £200.00 to £195.00 plus VAT. From 2012 the anticipated fee per office is £170.00 plus VAT at current prices to cover all disciplines, effectively giving a reduction for offices carry on both residential sales and lettings, which is increasingly becoming the case.

We have held the fees now for six years and therefore find that we have had to make what amounts to a small increase when taken over the years but when the transition period is over the administration will be simpler for both agents and TPO which will contribute to our efficiency. I therefore commend this change to the fee structure to you and would like to thank you for your support over the years.

I believe we carry out an important service which not only resolves actual cases that are formally put to the Ombudsman but also provides advice in many cases which resolves matters before they become a formal dispute.

The cost of reinstatement to TPO membership

Agents who allow their membership of TPO to lapse and then wish to be reinstated will in future be charged a fee of £50 plus VAT. This reflects the cost to us of the work involved. Residential sales agents in particular should remember that they need to be a member of an approved redress scheme in order to operate their business.

If TPO membership lapses it could mean you are trading illegally and risk a fixed penalty fine of £1,000 should you be visited by Trading Standards officers and cannot provide proof of redress cover.

What TPO is all about

Some people are confused about the true role of TPO and believe the organisation to be an industry regulator.

It's true that the Ombudsman tries as much as he can to instill best practice across the industry and that TPO is a Government-approved redress scheme but we do not make or enforce legislation.

TPO is here to resolve disputes between estate agents and consumers but that doesn't make the organisation a consumer body, either. The TPO role is an independent one and that's important for the organisation to function.

That the Ombudsman finds in favour of consumers in roughly two thirds of complaints does not show bias one way or the other. It's often the case that the more difficult disputes come before him for resolution because the Ombudsman tries to encourage member agents to settle disputes with clients themselves wherever possible.

Promoting best practice is good for all involved in estate agency. The public perception of agents will be higher if standards rise and consumers will be less troubled in their dealings with agents and even less likely to make complaints.

Landmark membership figure achieved

I'm pleased to report that we have reached our target of 8,000 member firms at the start of 2011 – we are now up to 8008!

There are 11,321 sales offices within the scheme. The figure for lettings offices is 7,851, helping bring the total number of individual branches covered by TPO to 13,756.

It's really great news – the scheme is continuing to grow and this shows that many estate agents aspire to raise their standards. It's especially encouraging that we have so many lettings offices as TPO membership is still voluntary. I would urge all member firms to ensure they mention TPO membership in all their promotional material but particularly in their advertising as it helps build consumer awareness of the value of the scheme and the standards to which members aspire.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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October 2010
Check your indemnity insurance

All members of TPO must have Professional Indemnity Insurance in place – it's a requirement of the scheme but also common sense, too.

The minimum limit for payments under awards made by the Ombudsman is £100,000 and the excess on the policy must be no more than £1,000 – if it is more, then the TPO endorsement must be added to your policy. This can be accessed from our website at www.tpos.co.uk/pii.htm

Gerry Fitzjohn is new TPO vice chairman

Gerry Fitzjohn, national sales director covering more than 1,000 branches for Countrywide until earlier this year, is channelling his energies into a wider role with The Property Ombudsman Scheme.

Gerry, an 'approved person' by the FSA and responsible for 750 financial consultants before taking on his new role of finding acquisitions for Countrywide, has become vice-chairman of the operating company for TPO to assist me.

He has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for TPO and his decade of inside knowledge will be of great assistance in helping promote the scheme and its aims.

My workload has grown substantially since I became chairman in 2003 and with redress now compulsory for all residential estate agents in the UK it is greater still.

Gerry will be a great support to me and will, I am sure, make an even greater contribution to raising standards in residential estate agency.

Essential Guides will help consumers

We have just published a series of four Essential Guides to help buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants understand more about the processes involved and terms they may encounter when dealing with residential sales or lettings agents.

They are simple, four pages of A5 documents that may also be useful as introductory explanations for new staff. Make sure you are acquainted with them and have some available. They can be downloaded in pdf format from the TPO website.

New guidance will make life easier

The Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, is working on some new guidance briefings to supplement the existing Codes of Practice. These new briefings will be published over the next few months, with agency agreements as the first topic. This will be followed by advice on referral fees and other subjects are on his list…

Displaying the TPO logos… another reminder

You may remember seeing this reminder in my July newsletter but after 18 months of branding as The Property Ombudsman for more than a year but some members are still displaying the old OEA logo and some agents are displaying no logos at all.

As I reminded you in July, clearly displaying the TPO logo to signify your membership of the scheme is a requirement that must be adhered to. It is also important that you display the correct logo for your membership.

Only sales members, for instance, can use the logo that carries the OFT Approved Codes scheme logo alongside it. Lettings members have a different logo, coloured green instead of blue, while CEARA-only members have a very simple black logo to use and must not display any other form of TPO identification on their premises.

I recognise that in many offices window space is tight, especially now many agencies have moved to the rolling TV screen presentation system that scrolls through your properties. Why not use the appropriate TPO logo as a screen break after every third property, for instance. That way, buyers are bound to see it. Vendors can be made aware of membership by desk signage and the presence of our logos on you stationery.

Membership approaching 8,000 firms

The number of member firms now stands at 7,908, tantalisingly close to 8,000. It was only in 2005 that we enrolled our 1,000th member firm after 15 years existence so to say the pace of expansion since has been rapid is a bit of an understatement.

There are now 11,310 sales offices within the scheme while the figure for lettings offices is 7,756. This brings the total number of individual branches covered by TPO to 13,683.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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July 2010
Survey shows need for greater awareness

As you know, we carry out a regular monitoring of agents' activities on an entirely random basis.

The latest Referenceline survey shows a decline in consumer satisfaction relating to keeping consumers informed about TPO membership and your own internal complaints process.

The TPO Codes of Practice require you to have an internal complaints procedure in place and that you should highlight how it is available and that you should advise consumers of your TPO membership at the earliest opportunity in your relationship with them.

This is easily achieved by having our consumer guides available and drawing them to the attention of consumers.

If a complaint should arise, you must make it clear how it can be passed on to TPO if the consumer is unhappy with the outcome of your own internal processes.

Copies of our Codes must be available free of charge and given to consumers on request. These and copies of the Consumer Guide leaflets that must be displayed in all your offices can be downloaded from www.tpos.co.uk or you can purchase them as printed material from membership@tpos.co.uk.

Displaying the TPO logos

We have now been branded as The Property Ombudsman for more than a year but some members are still displaying the old OEA logo and some agents are displaying no logos at all.

Clearly displaying the TPO logo to signify your membership of the scheme is a requirement that must be adhered to. It is also important that you display the correct logo for your membership.

Only sales members, for instance, can use the logo that carries the OFT Approved Codes scheme logo alongside it. Lettings members have a different logo, coloured green instead of blue, while CEARA-only members have a very simple black logo to use and must not display any other form of TPO identification on their premises.

HIPs may be gone but redress requirement is not

Although HIPs have been abolished, estate agents conducting residential sales must still be registered with an OFT approved redress scheme.

We have received a number of enquiries from estate agents who believe they no longer need to be signed up to a redress scheme. I should emphasise that it remains a legal requirement and you should not cancel membership.

The legislation that introduced HIPS and compulsory redress requirements were entirely separate. Mandatory redress became a requirement on October 1, 2008, under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act of 2007. This legislation has not been suspended by the new Government.

Membership still growing

The number of member firms now stands at 7,706, a rise of 199 since my last newsletter at the end of April, itself our highest ever number at the time.

We now have 11,174 sales offices within the scheme, up 173 from April, while the figure for lettings offices is now 7,578, a rise of 135 from April. This brings the total number of individual branches covered by TPO to 13,477 (the disparity between the 18,775 total if you add the figures for sales and lettings together and the total of individual branches is brought about because many offices embrace both business functions).

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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April 2010
Outcome of the Foxtons case

Commentators from both within and outside the industry have followed the OFT case with Foxtons over the latter's contract terms with a huge amount of interest.

The High Court ruled in favour of the OFT and Foxtons have decided not to appeal that ruling within the time allowed, meaning the OFT has issued important advice on how it regards contract terms as fair in future.

It has delivered guidance in the form of a letter sent to TPO which it has asked that we bring to the attention of member agents. Rather than try to paraphrase it, I think if better that, if you have not already done so, you read the letter very which you can access here.

Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd

If, as a result of reading the letter, you are unsure about the terms in your contracts and whether or not they fit with the new OFT guidance, then please consult with your own solicitors rather than ask the TPO to clarify matters. It is essential not only that you think your contract terms are right but also that you can demonstrate in any future dispute with a client that you have the necessary legal opinion to support your view.

Wide coverage for the 2009 annual report

The Annual Report for 2009 was published at the end of March, a week later than we had planned as Gordon Brown suddenly announced the Budget date as we were completing our own arrangements and the two would have clashed.

It seems that many regional publications (plus BBC radio) picked up on the report, firstly because of the 45 per cent rise in lettings complaints and then more recently some news outlets have aired the Ombudsman's view that whoever forms the next Government should pay careful attention to bringing the rules regarding letting agents and redress into line with those for sales agents.

I support Christopher Hamer's view that it was a mistake not to bring lettings within the scope of CEARA at the same time as sales, although the lack of an approved code for lettings under the OFT CCAS scheme may have delayed matters. On the other hand, it may have focused the OFT's mind on granting approval for our lettings code, something for which we have been pressing on for some time.

It was good to see an underlying theme in Christopher's report that sales agents have upped their game since the TPO was formed 20 years ago as the Ombudsman for Corporate Estate Agents. The nature of complaints is now much less serious and the level of redress awards has dropped dramatically.

This improvement comes via a combination of monitoring of sales transactions through the TPO, which flags up areas of concern for member agents, and members' willingness to implement the improvements which the surveys reveal could be made. While the industry remains unregulated, which it is likely to do for some time yet, consumers should be glad that member firms are making such real efforts to raise their levels of service.

TPO website activity

Life these days seems to be a mass of statistics and reports – every month, for instance, one is circulated within TPO that reveals how much website activity we have had.

I did a quick bit of working out and the number of seconds the site was in use by visitors was equivalent to 40 days, nine more days than there were in the whole month. It seems that one thing not given up for Lent was browsing TPO information! Three of those sessions involved requests for more than 101 pages of information and 14 of them lasted for more than an hour! What did people do before they had computers?

Latest membership figures

Still on the theme of statistics and reports, I've been browsing the latest membership figures and looking back over the last year. The number of member firms now stands at 7,507, the highest ever and almost 1,000 more than the 6,588 we had at this time last year.

Despite market trends, which have seen a drop in residential sales activity, we now have 11,001 sales offices within the scheme, slightly more that the 10,985 at this time last year. But it's the rise in lettings offices that has driven up our figures. TPO now embraces 7,466 lettings offices compared with 5,639, a rise of around a third.

The total number of branches covered by TPO for both sales and lettings peaked last October at 13,468 – a month later it had dropped to 13,064! Thankfully, there has been a steady revival since to the current 13,280. A great deal of credit must go to member agents in the lettings sector, who are with us voluntarily and not because they are compelled to be by law. However, I should also point out that the same applied to the vast majority of our sales agents, too, as they joined long before CEARA made redress compulsory. It's something often overlooked by outside commentators looking in but TPO has done a great deal to bring about raising standards through its Codes of Practice, although member agents' greater adherence to them is down to the agents, of course. So while you wonder which party will win the General Election and what the future holds for our industry, have a vote of thanks from me for your support for TPO.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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February 2010
Simplifying our fee structure

Since the expansion of our redress scheme to cover several different disciplines, including sales, lettings, commercial, international sales and now block management we are looking at ways to simplify our fee structure.

It will be much easier for many members if we are able to adjust fees to cover all the areas that they require and send one invoice that covers a member for any business that they do.

I appreciate that times are still tough out there and anything we can do to ease both administration costs and overhead charges will be welcomed by members. As soon as we have worked out the best way to do this, I will circulate details to members.

Use our logos prominently and correctly

Please pay attention to which of our logos you display on your premises. It is important that you make the distinction and that members of the public can recognise it.

The blue logo which includes the OFT Approved code symbol applies only to residential property sales and can only be displayed in offices that have joined our scheme for residential sales.

This logo has to be displayed as shown here and cannot be separated out in any way.

The Property Ombudsman | Sales

The green standalone logo is for lettings and again should only be used in respect of any lettings activities in the same way as that of the sales logo.

The Property Ombudsman | Lettings

It's also important that you make consumers aware if you are a lettings office that has voluntarily signed up to our lettings code, which has yet to gain OFT approval, although we are working hard towards this.

This reminder applies equally to any stationery and marketing material you produce, which must also carry correct logos to avoid any chance of consumers being misled over what parts of the TPO service you have signed up for.

If you are signed up for both sales and lettings, then both logos must be used on premises. Where you wish to use one set of stationery for all your business, there is a blue TPO logo minus the OFT Approved logo and only this can be used.

The Property Ombudsman

Firms who have registered with TPO under CEARA and are not full members signed up to either Code or Practice may not use any of our triangular symbols. There is a simple black text logo/identifier that you are expected to use on premises or stationery.

The Property Ombudsman | OFT Approved Estate Agents Redress Scheme

An explanatory PDF, Guidance on Logo Usage, is available for download.

Latest membership figures

Our latest membership numbers are showing a rise in both the number of firms registered with us and the offices they use.

At the end of January 2010 we had 7,351 firms and a total of 13,069 offices, of these 10,593 offices covered sales and 7,270 lettings. The figures for the same time last year, were, 6,393 firms and 12,445 offices, which shows quite a significant rise.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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November 2009
Don't let bad touting practices start unnecessary infighting

I realise how tough it is out there at the moment, although with the residential market showing some signs of recovery there is increased pressure on agents who are selling houses and need to replenish their register.

I can understand their keenness if they see a house that has been for sale with another agent and they think they can do a better job of selling it but, if this applies to you, please be careful in your approach to potential vendors.

In his last quarterly report, the Ombudsman had to touch on the fact that he is getting complaints from agents about other agents' touting activities, alleging that some are going far beyond acceptable behaviour in their bid to win more business. This behaviour shouldn't be allowed to affect client relationships, either.

If you try to win over a client from another agent, you must make it clear when you make your initial approach about the jeopardy of a double commission should the property be sold to a buyer already introduced by the original agents, Make sure, should you get instructed, that your client has a full list of people who viewed with the original agent and if one of them should return through you ensure you have an amicable agreement in place with the first agent. Don't just present a bill for full commission and then act surprised when the first agent does the same. You will both have one very dissatisfied client and bring the industry into disrepute.

Fourth expulsion - agent still owes £1,600 award

Sadly, I have to report that a fourth agency has been expelled by the Disciplinary and Standards Committee this year.

Global Realty, with two offices in London, had an award of £1,600 made against it after a complaint by a tenant but has refused to pay the amount. It has now been expelled for both its lettings and sales activities, although it still has minimum registration under CEARA for sales.

When members sign up to TPO, they agree to abide by the Ombudsman's decisions and this will be enforced. Expulsions will continue to be publicised in both trade and consumer press, drawing attention that may not be welcome. This is an integral part of the sanction and if you are an agent who goes back on your word you must expect the consequences.

Latest membership figures

It's interesting that, despite the hard times the industry has been going through, TPO now covers more branches than ever before. At the end of October, the number had reached 13,034, a climb of 77 from September and 430 more than this time last year when there had been a climb of 419 compared with October 2007.

It's not all as simple as it looks, however, because the fluctuations of the property market have meant that the mix is now very different, with lettings offices boosting numbers as sales offices drop back.

So the actual changes for the membership team staff here have involved a lot more activity than at first appears and they have also been involved in massive membership drives after NAEA came on board during 2006 and CEARA coming into effect last year resulted in them scouring the country to find agencies who needed to register with us to stay within the law. If you look back to January, 2007, the difference in terms of branch numbers is 5,154, or almost 40 per cent of the current total.

This year alone, the number of member firms has climbed by 846 to 7,239 so that equates to a lot of new contacts who have to be guided through their paperwork.

It has been a great team effort by all the membership staff, lead by Sarah Sartin who I would like to welcome back from maternity leave.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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October 2009
Third expulsion - agent still owes £2000 award

In my last newsletter you will have seen that, regrettably, we had to expel two members earlier this year for non payment of awards.

Already I have to report our third expulsion of 2009 - for non-payment of membership although the agent also had a £2,000 award outstanding..

The business, Foundations, of Gants Hill, in Essex, was still passing itself off as a TPO member when we mystery shopped it. Part of the complaint against it was that it had claimed to be with NAEA and NALS when it was not.

The first two agencies expelled have been allowed to re-register following payment of the awards. When the Ombudsman makes an award against your business you have committed to paying it through joining the scheme and we expect that commitment to be honoured promptly.

PCCB teams up with TPOS

The Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) has begun the transition to direct consumer enquiries to TPO as it moves its consumer redress function to us, creating a simplified redress system for consumers across the whole sector.

The Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, has been resolving disputes with regard to estate agents' actions involving HIPs since packs were introduced in 2007 but our scheme has now been extended to directly include the many HIP and search providers registered with the PCCB.

The move follows the publication of a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year between PCCB and TPO setting out plans for closer collaborative working.

The change to enquiry and redress handling by the PCCB is the first concrete example of what that this will mean in practice. Consumers who have problems with estate agents, Home Information Packs (HIPs) or the personal searches within them will now have one point of contact for information, advice and dispute resolution.

The majority of people with disputes concerning the content of the HIP can now ask the Ombudsman to intervene if they fail to resolve the dispute through the HIP provider or search provider's own internal procedures.

Time to register your view

Property agents are being invited to comment on proposals for a Register of Property Agents after several months' hard work by a steering committee.

The committee was set up under my chairmanship after I suggested at the start of this year that a Register of Property Agents (RoPA) embracing all those involved in property sales could be used to help raise standards. It is completely separate from TPO.

The steering committee, made up of people who share my ambition to raise standards, has met several times and is now inviting reactions from all involved in residential estate agency.

Its consultation document can be seen, and comments left, at www.agentregister.co.uk.

Please try to be positive over this. Some comments left at estate agency magazine websites have criticised the RoPA as just another means of extracting fees from people in a hard-pressed industry. That's not the case at all. This is a serious bid to raise standards in a simple and straightforward way and I promise that costs will be as minimal as possible. These may be hard times but I'm not in such a state of penury that I need to invent ways to extract more fees from any of you, so let's have some sensible and constructive contributions.

New PA for Ombudsman

Stephanie Spencer has become the new PA to the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer. Natalie Hallett has taken a new position at Southampton University and we wish her well.

Stephanie joined us at the end of January this year in the membership department before moving to the case support team so is well versed in how TPO works. Her direct telephone number is 01722 424455 while Stephanie's email address is stephanie.spencer@tpos.co.uk

Seven day cooling off period

There has been some concern among member agents about whether the new regulations covering doorstep and out of office selling apply to us. OFT and LACORS, the organisation for Trading Standards officers, assure us that estate agents do come within the scope of the new rules.

This means that clients seen away from your place of business have the right to a seven day cooling off period in which they can cancel the contract. However, during that period you will probably want to be pressing ahead with HIP preparation and other paperwork. In that case, your terms and conditions need to include a clause stating that any charges incurred with the clients' permission during the seven days must be paid for.

However, if you use such a clause, you must point it out to them and ensure you get them to sign to say they have seen it before they sign a full agreement for your services.

Latest membership figures

Our latest membership numbers are showing a rise in both the number of firms registered with us and the offices they use. In my July newsletter, I reported that we had 6,904 member firms, with 10,437 offices registered for sales and a further 6,255 for lettings to make a total of 12,640 offices overall.

At the end of August, this had improved to 7,109 firms with 10,563 offices covering sales and 6,798 for lettings. That's a total of 12,974 offices.

I'm sure there are still firms who need to register to comply with CEARA - if you know of any do urge them to contact us.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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July 2009
Expulsions a regrettable sanction to use

You may have seen in the press that two member agencies were expelled from The Property Ombudsman after refusing to pay awards made against them by the Ombudsman.

Both were informed of the decision in April but asked for their dismissals to be delayed while they paid the outstanding sums. This was not done so their expulsions were confirmed.

It is extremely rare for agents not to abide by the decisions of the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, and these expulsions ordered by the Disciplinary and Standards Comiittee show that the scheme has effective sanctions when needed. Ultimately, lack of registration with an approved redress scheme means no UK estate agency can take any part in residential property sales. Those who ignore the law possibly face a fine of up to £1,000 from trading standards officers, who were aware of the decision regarding these two firms.

Within a couple of weeks, both agencies had applied for re-registration after agreeing to pay the awards but neither firm has been re-admitted as voluntary members of The Property Ombudsman but will be allowed to register under the terms of the Consumers, Estates Agents and Redress Act to sell residential property.

Lettings activity by either firm will not be covered unless, and until, The Property Ombudsman's Disciplinary and Standards Committee agrees to readmit the firms to full membership. This is not likely to happen for some time as we will want to establish that they are trading satisfactorily for both sales and lettings.

There has been an impression given in a trade publication that it had intervened on behalf of one firm, which, as a result, was being allowed to pay a percentage of the award to gain readmission.

This is simply not true. No third party has intervened, nor ever could, as the Ombudsman does not negotiate discounts on his awards so that firms can stay within our scheme. They either pay the awards against them, thereby complying with the terms of their membership, or risk expulsion.

As you can see, the refusal to pay the awards caused these two firms considerable public embarrassment and not inconsiderable inconvenience. When estate agents join the scheme they agree to abide by the decisions of the Ombudsman and pay awards made against them. If they fail to do this then they risk being expelled, as happened here. It is extremely rare for agents to ignore the Ombudsman's decisions and these expulsions show we have effective sanctions when needed. It is disappointing that both agents were reluctant to pay the awards and apparently forced into doing so by the publicity. I would urge all members not to repeat their mistake.

Take care over touting

The ugly topic of touting has reared its head again, with members ringing me to complain about other firms trying to take away their business.

It is a common practice among agents to chase up owners of houses they see for sale and ask if they can take the property onto their registers. However, care needs to be taken over this and while chasing business in this way is common in many sales environments it does bring some risk for agency clients and these must be avoided where possible and spelled out if inevitable.

The easiest way to deal with it is merely to invite the property owner to transfer to your agency when the current agency agreement ends or to consider making you a joint selling agent. It must also be pointed out in any letter you send to a prospective client already marketing a property that they could be at risk of a dual fee arising and that they should therefore ensure they have a list from the first agent of all the people who have been given details of the property, not necessarily just those who have viewed.

I appreciate the business climate is tough at the moment but turning the world of estate agency into a 'dog eat dog' state of affairs does not do the credibility of individual agents or the wider estate agency community any good at all.

Latest membership figures

The latest statistics for membership show that we now have 6,904 member firms, with 10,437 offices registered for sales between them and a further 6,255 for lettings to make a total of 12,640 offices overall.

Looking back over the last two years, it's interesting to see that the number of branches has hardly changed, although the mix of sales and lettings shows some variance. The number of firms is also at its peak, despite the apparent decline in numbers due to the current property market. The number of member firms has more than doubled since the end of June, 2007.

However, as I asked in my last newsletter, if you know of a residential sales agency that has still to register for redress under CEARA please let us know so we can make direct contact with the business concerned.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, TPO Board.

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May 2009
OEA name goes as our scheme grows

The broader scope of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme sees it changing to The Property Ombudsman Service (TPOS) from May 1.

The OEA was founded as the Ombudsman for Corporate Estate Agents and is now in its 20th year but has come a long way since its launch in 1990.

There will be a new logo for window displays, in blue with the OFT Approved Codes symbol alongside for sales offices and green without the OFT logo for lettings. Commercial property sales members will have a black logo when the scheme expands soon to cover some of their activities.

There is already great awareness of the OEA symbol and we want that to apply to the new identity as well so the old and new are closely related.

Expansion of our scheme will help ensure its healthy future and spread costs over a wider membership base. There will still be no charge to members when a complaint is brought against them.

As the principal means of redress for consumers in the property sector, reflected by 95 per cent of UK estate agency offices being covered by our scheme, and our widening fields of activity which will also extend to including HIPs and property search providers, we consider the old name no longer reflected all that we do.

Membership has increased dramatically in the past few years and at the same time OEA has also expanded to take in lettings as well as its original remit to cover agents selling residential property. In the near future, we will also be embracing some commercial property activities as well as the UK end of foreign residential property transactions.

We have submitted our lettings Code of Practice to the OFT for endorsement under its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, which we see as vital in current market conditions where lettings are dominating activity.

I appreciate that making the change can be inconvenient for some of you but I hope that we have kept that to a minimum by the letters you will already have received advising of the change and allowing you to continue to use up old stocks of documents for some time to avoid unnecessary costs.

New Chairman for Council

Lord Richard Best, a prominent figure in the UK housing sector, has become chairman of the independent council that oversees The Property Ombudsman service.

A leading authority on social provision in the UK who was recently appointed to lead a new Commission on the Future for Housing in Northern Ireland, Lord Best joined the OEA council two years ago as vice chairman at the same time as Lord Borrie, who rose to fame as Gordon Borrie -- director general of fair trading under successive Labour and Conservative governments -- took the chair.

At the time, Lord Best had just retired as director of both the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK.

These were two important appointments for the OEA and both Lord Best and Lord Borrie have devoted a great deal of time and effort to the OEA in the last two years.

As Lord Borrie became chairman there was a great deal of focus on legislation designed to improve both the consumer experience and protection within the property industry and his assistance in guiding the OEA to become the first Government-approved body for both HIPs redress and, subsequently, Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act redress was immeasurable.

Now the focus in the property sector has switched very much to lettings, something in which Lord Best has great experience.

In hindsight, the appointment of these leading exponents in their fields could not have been more apposite. No-one could have foreseen the current fortunes of the property market back in 2007, when they joined the council, but these two individuals have given great service, and will continue to do so as Lord Borrie has agreed to stay on the council and assist TPOS in whatever way he can.

Both industry professionals and the consumers they serve have every reason to be grateful to Lords Best and Borrie for the time they have given to us when there are a great many other calls on their expertise.

Still recruiting

It's now more than six months since all estate agents involved with residential sales in the UK were required to register for redress under the provisions of CEAR.

We are pretty certain that we now have the vast majority enrolled but it's evident that there are still some agents who have not joined an approved scheme. It's vital for the good of the industry and consumers that everyone complies with the law. If you know of a residential sales agency that has still to register for redress please let us know so we can make direct contact with the business concerned or, if it is run by a friend of yours, do your utmost to get them to comply even if they don't like the idea of redress. In the current economic circumstances, they will like the idea of a £1,000 fixed penalty even less!

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, OEA Board.

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November 2008
Making the switch to lettings

Many OEA members are finding the pressure too great in the residential sales market and are considering switching to lettings instead.

While I appreciate there is a need to keep businesses prosperous, or at least avoiding a trading loss, think carefully before you make the change.

Closing as a sales office at midday and reopening for lettings after lunch might seem like a great idea, but beware of the legislation that covers lettings, which has changed greatly in recent times. You should really consider NALS accreditation, NAEA or ARLA membership as a prerequisite and become familiar with the OEA Code of Practice for lettings. Having redress in place for your lettings activity is not compulsory yet but still a great idea, so talk to our membership team, too.

Seeking OFT approval

The OEA has embraced residential lettings activity since summer 2006 and has a growing number of lettings agents enrolling. This has been boosted by organisations such as the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) requiring its members to join and I am now in talks with the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA), the lettings division of the National Federation of Property Professionals (NFoPP) about enrolling their members, too.

At present, 4,960 lettings offices in the UK are signed up to the OEA Lettings Code of Practice, designed to protect all parties in a transaction by ensuring high standards.

The OEA is just submitting the Code to the Office of Fair Trading in the hope of having it approved under the OFT Consumer Codes scheme. This already applies for our residential sales Code and is the only one in the industry that reaches this high standard and is, in effect, monitored independently from the property industry itself, making it truly independent.

There have been some moves this year towards a lighter touch system of overseeing estate agents' activities but I don't think consumers are ready for this. That's why ARLA is in talks with us and why we are seeking OFT approval for the lettings Code.

Backdating jurisdiction

As you all know, having redress in place for residential sales became compulsory on October 1 this year. Most members were already well covered for this but those who have joined after October 1 will be offered retrospective cover.

This means that if a dispute arises for the period between October 1 and the date you joined we will still look at it. However, this is not carte blanche cover for those who are tardy in getting their applications submitted. It will only apply to agents who are full members by November 30, 2008. After that, cover will be from the date of joining.

Membership numbers

As you'll see from my piece above, we are now covering 4,960 offices dealing with residential lettings. We also provide the redress service for 11,336 residential sales offices, virtually 95 per cent of all those in the UK. It's a great result and shows clearly the confidence you all have in the OEA.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman, OEA Board.

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September 2008
Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act

Hopefully, you, do not need reminding that this important new legislation comes into effect on October 1.

Anyone who was previously fully registered with the OEA, and not just a member for HIPs, has literally nothing to do to comply with registration under CEAR as this is automatic.

However, if you are only registered for your HIPs activities then you need to act quickly to ensure you have redress in place for all your residential property sales activities.

We have a number of agents to sign up in Northern Ireland and Scotland where reaction still seems slow. If you know of anyone who has yet to register for redress with an approved scheme, do your best to prompt them to comply with the law straight away.

At present, even on the most conservative estimate of the number of estate agency branches in the UK, we have 89 per cent in membership, which is good but still leaves room to do better.

Sole selling rights confusion

Some estate agents still use the term 'sole selling rights' in their contract terms, which can lead to some confusion for vendors.

If you have this phrase in your terms, the onus is on you to ensure its implications are fully explained and that people realise its implications = that no matter who sells the property, even if they do it themselves, they still owe you your commission.

Some people confuse the term with that for 'sole agency' which is very different, although that is not entirely clear to the layman. There have been several instances where agents' Terms and Conditions have defined the agency as a Sole Agency but the terms actually define Sole Selling Rights. Clearly this can lead to confusion and conflict.

Submissions regarding disputes

The Ombudsman has pointed out that under the new CEAR rules, when a dispute is adjudicated by the Ombudsman, the submission from each party will be sent to the other.

With this in mind, you might like to consider the language you use about the other party and not make intemperate or ill-judged comments about them which might inflame the situation and antagonise the situation.

No matter how strongly you feel, the idea is to settle the dispute, not make it the first skirmish in an all-out war of words. So I suggest that when you have written your submission, read it again a couple of times and make sure it really is what you want, and mean, to say. I appreciate that times are very hard for agents at present but there is little point in making matters worse.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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June 2008
Appeal Court decision

There has been plenty of publicity surrounding the Foxtons hearing in the Court of Appeal concerning when commission payments become due.

In order to prove whether or not your firm is entitled to a commission you will need to be sure you keep full records of all dealings with the parties involved, especially where a viewing does not result in an immediate sale or offer.

To be able to claim commission, there has to be proof of more activity than merely introducing a prospective buyer to a property via a viewing - there needs to be actual follow up and records need to be kept of all this activity.

To comply with the OEA Code of Practice, these are records you should already be keeping, as a matter of course.

Keeping up professional standards

These are challenging times for all involved in residential estate agency and it is taking much more hard work to conclude property sales. It is important that, in pursuit of sales, professional standards are not allowed to slip. The industry will be under great scrutiny from both the media and the public while there is a strong focus on the difficulties of the property market.

If your firm is forced to close offices, or cease trading completely, make sure that any clients you may transfer to another estate agent are aware they will have to sign a new contract with that agent to cover liabilities and fees which may be different from those in your own contract. Please ensure that you inform the OEA membership section of any changes.

Membership numbers

Membership currently stands at 12,699 branches (5,808 firms); representing around 85% of residential agencies and this percentage looks likely to grow once the CEAR law comes into effect. Of that total, 7,612 branches are involved in sales, and 3,381 in sales and lettings. A further 953 branches cover lettings only and 753 branches are registered just for their HIPs activities.

Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress legislation

We hope to hear very shortly about approval for our application to operate a redress scheme under the new law which is expected to come into force on 1st October. As mentioned before, should this happen then there is nothing agents who are already full members of OEA need to do as you will already comply with the legal requirements.

However, if you are one of the few hundred agents still only registered for HIPs activities, you can transfer across to full membership at no extra cost until your next renewal date, when your subscription rate will rise to that for full membership currently £120 per office per annum. Otherwise you will need to register with an approved redress scheme under the CEAR Act of which the OEA expects to be the principal one and your registration for HIPs will fall away.

Also, it is important to remember that if you run an estate agency under a franchise business, that each separate franchise business will need to be registered with an approved redress scheme under the CEAR Act on or before the law comes into effect.

Buying agents will also be required to be part of an approved redress scheme once the law comes into effect, as will all estate agents in Northern Ireland and Scotland who do not belong to a scheme at the moment. If this includes you, then it will need action on your part to comply with the law to avoid trading illegally.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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May 2008
Consumers Estate Agents Redress Act - nearly there on approval

We hope to hear very soon that we have been named an approved redress scheme under the new CEAR Act. It is expected to come into force on 1st October 2008.

As I pointed out in my last newsletter, if we are approved, and I see no reason why we should not be, then as far as I am aware you have absolutely nothing to do to comply with the redress requirements of registering with an approved Scheme if you are already a full member of the OEA. Only those who registered in England and Wales for their HIPs activities alone and agents in Scotland and Northern Ireland who are not OEA members will need to take action, if they are to remain on the right side of the law.

I would urge those of you who only have membership covering your HIPs activities to act now and take up full membership. Once the Government has announced which redress schemes are approved I anticipate we may see a rush of applications and it's always better to be at the front of the queue than the back.

Unless there are really onerous new conditions to be met under CEAR rules, then I anticipate there will be no extra cost to existing OEA members this year and we will do our very best to hold subscriptions at their present level for next year. As trading conditions continue to be difficult this year, I expect that's news you will all welcome!

New team running membership

The team running membership services at OEA is now being led by Sarah Sartin, assisted by Laura Baldwin and Jay Johnson. Sarah and Laura were on the team during the rush of membership applications that followed the introduction of HIPs and should be well able to keep up when CEAR makes redress compulsory.

Our finance manager, Martin Brown, continues to be assisted by Anne Hall.

Cleaning up the database

Work is nearly completed on cleaning up the membership database so that we have up to date details of all member companies, their branches, and contacts.

If you are aware that information we hold about you is incorrect from previous contacts, but you just haven't got round to letting us know, then please tell us now as it will make our task easier than having to back over the same ground later.

House of Lords Reception

During March our Council Chairman Lord Borrie Q.C. co-hosted an evening reception at the House of Lords to welcome NALs members into OEA.

The event was attended by Iain Wright, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who said the private rented sector was a key priority for him. He portrayed himself as a champion of the sector and expressed his commitment to ensuring the industry is kept at the top of his office's political agenda.

The Minister said he wanted to see good landlords incentivised and less scrupulous landlords penalised. Accreditation is the way to achieve this. He said he was supportive of the work of NALS and the OEA and its new agreement which enables tenants and landlords across the UK to benefit from fast and free and independent resolution of disputes with lettings agencies across the UK.

We were also able to make some very useful contacts in the political and property lettings arenas which I am sure will be of benefit to OEA in the future.

Code of Practice for Letting Agents

We have submitted an application of our lettings Code of Practice to OFT for approval under the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. This may take a little time to achieve but I hope it will enjoy the same success as the residential sales Code of Practice, which is now regarded as a standard setter within the industry and allow a joint OEA/OFT logo to be used by lettings agents who are members of OEA.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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March 2008
What happens when CEAR comes into force?

A good number of agents seem to be wondering what will happen when the Consumers, Estate Agents, and Redress Act takes full effect.

It had been thought the new law would be operative from early April but it now seems it might be the autumn before its requirements come into force.

This only serves to increase uncertainty but the OEA has submitted what we believe to be a strong application to be an approved provider of redress under CEAR.

If we are approved, and I see no reason why we should not achieve this, then you have absolutely nothing to do to comply with the redress requirements if you are already a full member of the OEA. Only those who registered in England and Wales for their HIPs activities alone and agents in Scotland and Northern Ireland who are not OEA members will need to take action, and possibly very quickly, if they are to remain in business.

You may receive a letter inviting you to join an alternative scheme that does not operate a Code of Practice. Be aware that if you leave OEA now and join an alternative that does not get approval then you will be unable to continue trading. We have made what I believe to be a convincing case for approval and, at the very least, I would advise you to keep up your OEA membership until the government has revealed who has approval.

Taking advantage of monitoring

It's interesting to see that quite a number of members are capitalising on good feedback from their independent monitoring that comes as part of OEA membership.

When significantly high ratings are received, members use them as the basis for a press release for their local media that illustrates the good assessment of their business and how it will benefit other consumers looking to buy or sell residential property.

Some people within the industry suggest that monitoring is a waste of time and negative. Far from it. Monitoring lets you know your strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to capitalise on your best points and improve areas where you maybe fall short.

It's an exercise that costs you nothing as it is part of your OEA membership but could greatly enhance your business. Look at it positively and it becomes an unseen guiding hand that can be of great assistance. Don't let those who publicly pillory the system deter you from using it. They are the misguided ones, not you.

Logo display

The original OEA window logo, which all members should display prominently on their premises as a requirement of being in the OEA, is going to come in two forms.

There will be one that denotes sales and another for lettings so that members who cover only one or other of these activities can make the distinction clear. Where your office is registered with OEA for both sales and lettings then you will be required to display both.

OEA is the one that counts

A spare minute spent browsing Sqm magazine was very rewarding. An article on the many organisations involved in residential estate agency and all the acronyms they use revealed that it's the OEA which pundits believe is the most recognized set of initials and the one that means most to consumers.

Dominic Agace, of Winkworth, is quoted as saying: 'From a public perception, I believe the Ombudsman, the OEA, is the group that clients are most aware of and is the most important in upholding industry standards.'

Andrew Dickinson, of Oakwood Homes, comments that it is important to be seen and recognised by certain affiliations, among them the OEA. David Newnes, of Your Move, points out that his company is a founder member of OEA and continues to get proactively involved, helping ensure a continued focus on service delivery. He hopes that 2008 will be the year when the whole industry throws off its lethargy and gets behind us.

Perhaps Joe Catcheside, of Underhill, sums it up best. 'The only important official body is the OEA,' he states. Hear, Hear!

Membership continues to grow

We may have ended 2007 with an all-time membership high but that hasn't stopped even more agency branches coming under our umbrella in the first weeks of 2008.

By the end of February, membership stood at 13,085 branches belonging to 5,630 firms. It seems that many of you concur with the sentiments expressed in the Sqm article quoted above. Only a small number of estate agencies are now outside the OEA and Ombudsman Christopher Hamer and I will continue working hard to bring them into the fold.

Changes to Consumer Guide

Changes have been made to our Consumer Guide, this can now be downloaded from our website. Hard copies of this should shortly be available from our office in Salisbury.

Please don't be tempted, in the interests of economy, to use up remaining old copies first. Bring the new ones into use straight away and dispose of the old ones by putting them out for recycling wherever you can.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board

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January 2008
Membership passes 12,000 mark

In my last newsletter, I reported that, as the year was drawing to a close membership of the OEA passed the 12,000 office mark.

By December 31, the number of offices included in the scheme had risen to 12,344, a brilliant total and one we have worked hard to achieve, even though we had the HIPs legislation last year to assist us.

That new law only required a bare minimum registration for HIPs provision in England and Wales but I’m glad to say that only 703 offices ended the year registered for just their HIPs activities alone. Virtually 11,000 offices (the actual figure was three short of that) were full members signed up to the Code of Practice while another 644 offices covered just lettings alone.

NALS now covered by OEA

The New Year has brought positive change for the lettings market.  With effect from January 1, tenants and landlords of properties across the UK will benefit from a new partnership between the OEA and NALS (National Approved Letting Scheme) allowing them easier access to independent redress in order to settle disputes and seek early resolution to issues.

Previously, NALS accredited lettings firms had used arbitration as the final stage in the complaints handling process. The new agreement with the OEA, now gives independent redress for both tenants and landlords at NO cost to either party and provides the lettings sector with a potentially faster yet professional service in line with best practice for a small annual fee. The procedure is based on seeking early agreement by all parties through a more informal decision process. Where this is not possible OEA will carry out a full review of the complaint.

NALS has more than 1,500 member offices and 1,200 accredited firms throughout the UK who recognise the benefit of promoting themselves in their local marketplace as part of an industry wide accreditation scheme. OEA has already been undertaking work on lettings disputes for about 18 months, since NAEA lettings firms came under our umbrella, but this involvement with NALS will significantly raise our profile among those involved in this part of the property world.

Changes to membership arrangements

Members now only need to give the OEA one month’s notice to terminate instead of six, which some of you who decide to retire or change business might find helpful. Naturally, any complaints that arise from a firm’s activities while it was still part of the OEA can still be dealt with by the Ombudsman.

I would just like to remind you that non payment of fees may result in the termination of membership and that this will include your registration for HIPs if applicable, which could affect your legal status to operate as an estate agent in England and Wales.

Non compliance with the monthly monitoring of agents dealing in residential sales may also result in OEA membership being terminated, but any registration for HIPs this will remain in place.

The Board decided at its last meeting that if a membership was terminated and the former member later wished to be reinstated there would be a reinstatement charge of £50 plus VAT.

The year ahead

We have many exciting plans for the year ahead and some major changes will be involved that alter the way the OEA is perceived by the public.

We are still formulating our plans, but what we have in mind will greatly enhance the image of the OEA and its members, so your full membership will be more important than ever. One of the most important matters is for OEA to become an approved redress provider under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act, scheduled to become effective from April. Providing we are approved, let me just remind you that existing OEA members should not have to take any action to comply with this law and there should be no additional charges.

Many pundits are predicting that 2008 will be a difficult year for the housing market but I hope you are all able to prosper during what may be challenging times. It’s important not to let professional standards slip – remember that with the launch of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act some time this year all eyes will be on us and our standards of behaviour will be closely scrutinised.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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December 2007
Membership passes 12,000 mark

As the year heads to a close, membership of the OEA has passed the 12,000 office mark.

Of the 12,204 offices participating in the scheme at the end of November, only 668 were registered for the bare minimum under HIPs requirements, a very good sign of the professionalism within the residential estate agency industry in England and Wales as it means the vast majority of agents are signed up to our Code of Practice.

As I am writing this, there are another 177 applications for full membership being processed along with 94 for HIPs registration.

I think the industry is to be largely congratulated on the progress made with regard to membership – OEA membership has risen more than 50 per cent year on year for the last two years but complaints against agents have not risen by anything like the same rate.

Submission to Sir Bryan Carsberg

I have been working with Christopher Hamer on a submission to Sir Bryan Carsberg, who is making an investigation into residential estate agency.

His report will no doubt receive a lot of attention in the media when it is published in the summer and we both feel it is important to contribute to the debate.

Submissions have to be with Sir Bryan by January 7 and there is nothing to stop individual estate agents having their say, too. It would be a good idea for as many voices as possible to be heard, so if you can tear yourself away from the cold turkey over Christmas maybe you could write in to Sir Bryan as well.

Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act

The OEA has made an application to be an approved redress scheme under the new legislation, which is likely to come into effect in April when all residential estate agents will be required to have an independent redress scheme in place.

At present, we are working through the inevitable points raised by the Office of Fair Trading that need clarifying and are hopeful that our application will be successful.

If it is, there will be nothing for full members of the OEA to do as you will already meet the requirements of the legislation. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know there will be no extra paperwork and, even better for you, no additional cost.

Northern Ireland visit

Christopher Hamer and I went to Northern Ireland as planned on October 31 to meet trading standards officer and estate agents.

The visit was arranged by David Livingstone, head of the Trading Standards Service in the province, and I would like to thank him for the trouble he took.

It’s fair to say we had a fairly robust round of discussions with estate agents - there are more than 630 estate agency outlets in Northern Ireland and less than 20 per cent are covered by the OEA scheme. We hope to see a massive increase as a result of our visit. Watch this space.

NALS signs up to OEA

From January 1, all members of the National Approved Lettings Scheme will have their independent redress provided by the OEA.

We were able to offer NALS a tailor-made scheme, having started to cover lettings activity for NAEA members from the middle of 2006.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the NALS membership. Christine Rowland-Jones will be looking after any cases that might arise involving NALS members.

Satisfaction survey

Many of you will be familiar with our consumer satisfaction surveys, where we ask buyers and sellers how your agency has performed.

Well, OEA will also be coming under the spotlight as we intend to set up a survey of how we are serving you. I hope it will show the same good results that the majority of members get from the general public. We will certainly take careful note of any issues you may raise.

Season’s greetings

After such a busy year, with so many changes affecting residential estate agency taking place, I’m sure you will all be looking forward to a well-earned break over the Christmas and New Year period before starting 2008 totally refreshed and raring to go.

The staff at OEA have also had a very busy time and I would like to thank them for all their efforts.

It just remains for me to wish you all, estate agents and OEA staff, a very happy Christmas and I hope 2008 brings a prosperous New Year.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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29 October 2007
More team changes

There is a new finance manager looking after the affairs of the OEA. Martin Brown took up his position on October 1 and reports to me for member-related finance matters and to Christopher Hamer for office finance issues. His role means that all finance matters are aligned in one place.

Chris Rowland-Jones, who had previously overseen out administrative function, has transferred to become a case officer. She will have specific responsibility for dealing with complaints about lettings received in relation to National Approved Lettings Scheme members. We are in the process of finalising the arrangement with NALS which will make us their dispute resolution service.

Sue Hurst is taking on an expanded role, and in addition to managing initial enquiries she will become responsible for facilities and IT. She will be assisted by Anya, who becomes initial enquiries supervisor responsible for the day to day oversight of initial enquiries. Gail Newell is taking up the post of part time HR manager.

Northern Ireland visit

Christopher Hamer and I will be in Northern Ireland on October 31 to meet trading standards officer and estate agents.

The visit has been arranged by David Livingstone, head of the Trading Standards Service in the province who invited us to Belfast after we all met in London.

We will meet trading standards officers during the morning before an informal lunch time session at Trading Standards’ Newtonbreda HQ with trading standards officers and estate agents.

In the evening, we will address an invited audience of estate agents representing the NAEA, RICS, and Irish Auctioneers’ and Valuers ’ Institute.

There are more than 630 estate agency outlets in Northern Ireland and less than 20 per cent are covered by the OEA scheme. We want to see a dramatic improvement in this and hope the visit will help raise awareness.

Independent reviewer appointed

Cyril Lanch , who has a background in the City and financial services regulation, has been appointed as the independent reviewer for the OEA by the organisation’s governing council, chaired by consumer champion and former director general of fair trading Lord Borrie.

Mr. Lanch’s role is to determine disputes where consumers using the OEA feel they have not received a satisfactory level of service and have been unable to resolve their dispute directly with the organisation, which deals with complaints against member estate agents. He will not be conducting a complaints procedure for people who disagree with a decision made by the Ombudsman.

Mr. Lanch’s career has spanned the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Bank of England, FIMBRA, PIA, and the FSA as well as working as a freelance consultant in financial services regulation and ombudsman services.

Complainants will be directed to Mr. Lanch if the OEA cannot settle the matter through its own internal complaints handling procedure.

If Mr. Lanch considers that a service complaint should be upheld in whole or in part he may recommend to the Ombudsman that the OEA makes an apology or pays appropriate compensation (equivalent to that which the OEA would award against a member firm in similar circumstances) for any damage, distress or inconvenience caused by the OEA’s standard of service to the person or firm making the service complaint.

If the Ombudsman does not accept that recommendation, the Mr. Lanch will refer the matter to the independent Council of the OEA.

Bill McClintock,
Chairman
OEA Board

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November 2006
New Ombudsman named

The new Ombudsman for Estate Agents is Christopher Hamer.

Mr. Hamer (53) succeeds Stephen Carr-Smith and takes up his appointment on December 1, 2006. He is only the third person to hold the position since the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme started in 1989.

With a strong background in ombudsman schemes, starting as private secretary to the Parliamentary Ombudsman in 1984, Mr. Hamer brings a wealth of experience to his new role.

Most recently, he spent six years with HSBC as head of insurance product and distribution risk but previously he was general manager of the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman Bureau and, before that, director of services at the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau.

Baroness Gillian Shephard, chairman of the OEA has welcomed Mr. Hamer’s appointment.

“As we move towards the Government’s ambition to appoint an ombudsman with authority under legislation as part of the HIPS scheme, Christopher, with his knowledge of ombudsman schemes and his past work in government, should put OEA in a strong position and will build on the excellent work of his predecessors,” she added.

Membership

More than two thirds of all the estate agency branches in England and Wales now participate in the OEA scheme – it covers 7,194 branches belonging to 2,423 member firms. This represents 68 per cent of branches in England and Wales or 60 per cent across the UK as a whole.

Application is logical step

The OEA is making an application to the Department of Trade and Industry to be the appointed Ombudsman under the 2004 Housing Act that brings in the HIPS scheme next June. It would seem a logical step in view of the large number of estate agents already in the OEA scheme.

New Bill proposed

In the Queen’s Speech on November 15, it’s believed the Government intends to announce the Consumer, Estate Agents and Redress Bill. I understand that it will proposed that all residential estate agents are members of an Ombudsman redress scheme and again OEA will be pressing to become the recognised Ombudsman for the industry.

Thanks to Stephen Carr-Smith

I would like to thank Stephen Carr-Smith for his outstanding service as Ombudsman, a position he took up in August, 1999. Stephen has worked hard for the industry during a period that has seen substantial growth in the OEA membership.

OEA membership has grown considerably during the time Stephen has been Ombudsman but the level of complaints has dropped in proportion to the rise in membership numbers. Even so, Stephen has had plenty to keep him occupied and it’s evident from reading his annual reports that he has worked exhaustively to ensure that all parties involved in a complaint are happy with the outcome.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board

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June 2006
1 - Membership of the OEA for NAEA Agents.

I welcome the NAEA decision that all NAEA Principle, Partners and Directors less RICS are to join the OEA Scheme as at 3 April 2006. However, we can only look into a complaint if the EA concerned is a registered Member Agent of the OEA Scheme. A steady stream of NAEA Estate Agents (EAs) has been joining the Scheme since 3 April. However, it is taking some time for them all to send in their applications and for us to process them. In the meantime, I have issued my staff with the following instructions:

We can only look into a complaint if the Agent is registered on the OEA database - OR is on the OEA spread sheet as having applied but not yet been registered.

If the complaint is against an NAEA EA and does not fall into the above categories, we will:

OEA Membership is to inform NAEA and ask them to take action to encourage the EA concerned to submit his OEA application as soon as possible.

We will regularly check whether the particular EA has applied to join the OEA.

As and when that application is received, we will inform the Complainant that we can now take on the case.

In the event that the EA does not send his application to the OEA within 28 days, Membership is to inform the NAEA for them to take appropriate disciplinary action.

However, unless the EA does join the OEA, we cannot take on the case. We will have to inform the Complainant accordingly and advise him/her to contact the NAEA over the matter.

2 - Effective date of considering complaints.

This is defined as the date from which events complained about can be considered by the OEA. Events before that date cannot be considered by the OEA unless the MA expressly gives his agreement.

For new NAEA Estate Agents

The date of 3 April 2006 is the effective date for all NAEA EAs who were members of the NAEA as of 3 April 2006 – regardless of the date that they actually joined the OEA.  This is because the NAEA took the decision to commit all their EA members (PPDs less RICS) to join as of 3 April 2006. As a result, Complainants will not be denied access to OEA redress because an NAEA EA has not applied to join the OEA when he should have done.

Clearly, for any NAEA EA who subsequently joins the OEA after 3 April 2006 – and does not fall into the category described in the paragraph above - the effective date will be the date he joined the OEA Scheme.

For NAEA Letting Agents

The date of 1 June 2006 is the effective date for all NAEA Letting Agents who were members of the NAEA as of 3 April 2006 – regardless of the date that they actually joined the OEA. This is because the NAEA took the decision to commit all their LA members (PPDs less RICS) to join as of 3 April 2006, and because it was agreed that the OEA start date would 1 June 2006. As a result, Complainants will not be denied access to OEA redress because an NAEA LA has not applied to join the OEA when he should have done.

Clearly, for any Letting Agent who subsequently joins the OEA after 3 April 2006 – and does not fall into the category described in the paragraph above - the effective date will be the date they joined the OEA Scheme.

3 – Lettings

We have produced the following major documents to allow us to start dealing with complaints against Letting Agents from tenants and landlords concerning lettings and property management:

Most are on the OEA website now – all will be on by mid June.

We are starting to look into letting complaints with the assistance of The Dispute Service (TDS) – who currently also work for ARLA.

It has been agreed that - should a Letting Agent belong to both ARLA and the OEA – it is the OEA which should have precedence in looking into a complaint.

4 – SALES
Fee Earning Events

In my Annual Report, I gave my views on what I considered to be fee earning events (introduction and negotiation) – and gave examples of what I would consider as a positive and provable actions. This is what I said:

“But what is an introduction? To my mind, it must constitute some positive and provable action that has directly led to the buyer becoming interested in the property – for example, a viewing – the details of which should be recorded; and a direct request for specific sales particulars (ie in writing or by coming into the branch office) – again, the details of which should be recorded.  Anything else – such as a mass mail shot, the unsolicited handing out of sales particulars, or a potential buyer seeing a “for sale” board – is more difficult for an agent to prove and, in itself does not, in my view, constitute a positive introduction. 

And what is negotiation? To my mind there are two particular situations which I would regard as qualifying as positive negotiation with the buyer on behalf of the seller: firstly, receiving an offer direct from the buyer and forwarding it to the seller; and secondly, receiving notification by the seller of an offer from the buyer and being asked to follow it up from there. In both cases, in order to establish a claim to have carried out “negotiation”, I would expect the agent to: confirm with the seller whether the offer received was acceptable; take reasonable initial steps to find out the buyer’s source of funding; discuss timescales and other terms and conditions of the sale with the buyer and seller; confirm the sale by issuing a memorandum of sale to both parties and their solicitors; conduct any subsequent negotiations with the buyer of behalf of the seller; take further reasonable steps to look into the progress of the buyer’s ability to fund the purchase, and report accordingly to the seller; and generally monitor the progress of the sale, reporting to the seller on a regular basis, and helping where necessary.  All of this would have to be supported by written evidence – for example, in the contemporaneous entries in the progress notes in the agent’s file.

Whether an agent’s entitlement to a commission fee is based on an introduction or negotiation (or both) I expect him to be able to clearly demonstrate that his entitlement is based on a positive and provable fee-earning event”

I have subsequently received a number of letters from Member Agents giving their views on the matter – and their views on my views. I welcome such feedback which I have passed on to the Chairman of the OEA to raise any matters he considers relevant through the medium of the OEA Board which represents Member Agents’ views.

However, a common misunderstanding in those letters is that I will only take as positive and provable actions those examples that I referred to. That is not necessarily so. The point I was making was that such examples of positive and provable actions of fee earning events are those that I would accept - but there may well be others. In coming to my judgement on the matter, I could come to a conclusion that something less positive may constitute an effective introduction or negotiation – but it will be more difficult for an Agent to prove.

Dual Fee Situations

I also covered this issue in my Annual Report – ending up by saying:

“I would like to see greater efforts between agents (particularly when both are OEA members) to try and achieve some sort of pragmatic fee-sharing arrangement in such circumstances”

I again urge all Agents to try and work with their colleagues in trying to resolve the common problem of two Agents becoming involved in the same sale. Provided that both Agents give the proper “health warnings” as required by the OEA Code of Practice – and please note that the next version of the Code will require Agents to take even greater care in explaining this carefully – the number of such occasions will be fewer, and the fault will be more obviously that of the seller concerned. 

However, in my experience, Agents do not, in the main, do this very well, and the impact could be very much lessened by taking a pragmatic view - whereby the first Agent was entitled to a fee because of the Introduction, and the second Agent because of the Negotiation. An amicable agreement to share the fee would, I believe, work out to both Agents’ advantage in the long run; and would avoid an unseemly squabble between two Agents which could easily – regardless of the facts - be misinterpreted by those in the Press on the look-out for examples of bad practice by “rogue agents”.

Stephen Carr-Smith

Ombudsman

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April 2006
Membership

As of May 1 this year, 1,427 companies belonged to the Scheme, encompassing 5,534 offices.

This represents 52.2 per cent of the 10,600 estate agency branch offices in England and Wales, or 46.1 per cent of the 12,000 estate agency offices across the UK.

The membership department is working hard on the influx of new membership applications following the joining of NAEA members (see below). So far, 534 firms covering 697 branches have sent in their completed applications and these are now being processed.

NAEA members joining the OEA

With effect from April 3, members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) who are principals, partners, or directors of a firm of estate agents but not members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are required by a resolution of the NAEA council passed last summer to become members of the OEA.

I anticipate that this will eventually lead to 65 per cent of estate agents in England and Wales, quite possibly more, becoming OEA members. Obviously, this is not going to happen overnight and it will take the membership team at head office some time to integrate the many new members.

Lettings agents joining, too

The OEA has started to receive applications from lettings agents, meaning that for the first time this important part of the estate agency sector will be covered by an Ombudsman scheme.

Registrations started with effect from April 3 and the Ombudsman will start taking complaints from tenants and landlords from June 1. Initially, the OEA will be using The Dispute Service to assist with letting and property management complaints.

By the end of April, 145 registration applications had been received from specialist letting agents and 308 from joint estate / letting agents.

Meeting with the OFT

The Ombudsman and myself had a meeting with the Office of Fair Trading recently at which we discussed a desire by the OFT to allow sellers the legitimate right to set-off some or all of an agent’s fee if the agent has provided an unsatisfactory service.

The OEA has always taken the view that, whilst there should always be scope for negotiation, an agent’s fee is a matter of contract and deficiencies in the level of service should be dealt with by the Ombudsman making an award for financial compensation if appropriate. The OFT lawyers have conceded that the OEA position is quite reasonable.

Code of Practice Review

As you may know, the OEA Code of Practice is regularly reviewed, and this process has been going on over the last few months.

The Council has been consulting with consumer, trade, and Government departments and is now close to reaching agreement on the wording of the updated code. When the review is concluded, the revised code will be available to members and will come into force later in the year.

The objective is to make the code clearer and it will closely follow the sequence of a sales transaction.

New Welcome Pack

The Welcome Pack sent to new applicants to join the OEA has now been revised and made clearer.

There are new information sheets covering the OEA terms of reference; dealing with vulnerable customers; guidelines for in-house complaints handling; procedures within the OEA office; and guidelines for member agents on the OEA process.

OFT Code of Practice endorsement

As you will know by now, either through reading the trade or national Press, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given Stage 2 approval to the OEA Code of Practice to which all OEA members adhere.

This is an important step for the OEA scheme and means that all OEA members will become entitled to display the OFT Fair Trader logo as well as the familiar OEA triangular symbol.

However, using the OFT logo cannot be done until each individual OEA member has signed the OFT licence agreement. It’s important that you do this straight away if you have not already done so. Contact the membership section for a copy of the agreement.

OFT Code of Practice promotion

The OFT has committed a £150,000 budget to promoting the OEA and OFT link-up. In effect, the Government is spending its money on promoting your business for you, but only if you have signed up to the agreement that allows you to display the OFT logo.

It’s not every day the Government spends money subsidising your business, so take advantage of it now.

Which? Endorses OEA members

As you may have seen in the Press, Which? Magazine has endorsed the OEA and recommended that people planning on using the services of an estate agent should use an OEA member.

This follows on from a report in Which? last May which resulted in the OEA threatening the magazine with legal action. Following protracted negotiation, Which? has apologised to the Ombudsman personally and issued its endorsement.

I look forward to renewed good relationships with Which? It is in all our interests to work together to raise professional standards within the industry and wherever we can we will cooperate with Which? on this.

The value of our regular surveys

I suspect that many of you must wonder on the worth of the exercise when Referenceline contacts you in order to set up customer feedback surveys.

But as results of the surveys show, more than 90 per cent of customers would recommend their estate agent to others if the agent is a member of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents and we are able to use such positive statistics to gain publicity for the OEA and its members.

An overwhelming 93 per cent of the 1,600 who responded to Referenceline between last August and January said they would recommend their agent to others and the survey shows that 86 per cent of the 8,700 who have replied since the surveys began in 2003 are satisfied with the service they receive.

The same percentage agrees that their agent complied with the OEA Code of Conduct that was recently endorsed by the Office of fair Trading under the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, so there’s room for improvement by some of you here.

My new PA

Those of you who ring my personal office will be pleased to note there is a much more warm and friendly, but familiar, voice answering the telephone.

Janet Fitzpatrick, who will be known to many of you through her work on OEA membership at head office, has moved across from Salisbury to Romsey to help lighten my workload and bring a sense of order to the office.

Improvements are already noticeable after only a very short time.

Bill McClintock,

Chairman, OEA Board.

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