David Cox, former ARLA chief, in dramatic return to the industry

In a dramatic return to the agency world, the former chief executive of the Association of Residential Letting Agents is joining Rightmove from next week.

David Cox left ARLA over the summer after being denied the opportunity to apply for the newly unified position leading Propertymark across both lettings and sales.

Rightmove’s Head of Estate Agency, Dave Anderson, says of the new appointment: “With the abolition of Section 21 and agent regulation on the horizon, David’s legal knowledge and his experience of engaging with government will help us to deliver real-time updates and help for our members.

“We’re excited to have David join us, as he has offered best-in-class help and guidance to agents over the years with the various changes in legislation that have come their way. 

The portal says one of Cox’s primary responsibilities will be to bolster Rightmove’s training programme, making sure that member agents get the most up-to-date guidance on legislation changes in the industry.

He will lead Rightmove’s webinar programme, which has been watched by over 40,000 agents so far this year and a new monthly webinar from Cox himself, starting on Tuesday November 10 at 10am, aims to help agents understand the latest changes in the industry.

His first webinar will cover the new national Covid tier system, the risk of referral fees being banned across the industry, and ‘what next for Section 21?’

Cox says: “For most of my career I’ve been helping the property industry with compliance to ensure agents are always operating at their very best. At this critical juncture for the industry, joining Rightmove enables me to take forward this work and continue supporting the agents we serve.”

In July, Cox's departure from ARLA was announced by the association this way: “David Cox, currently the Chief Executive of ARLA Propertymark is leaving the organisation today. The Board of Propertymark would like to thank David for his significant contribution in his time to the development of ARLA Propertymark, and wish him well in his future endeavours.”