Referral fees webinar coming up with Trading Standards supremo

Propertymark is staging a webinar later this month on the topical subject of referral fees.

Last month the National Trading Standards for Lettings and Estate Agents Team, led by James Munro, recommended to government that agents must by law be obliged to give landlords and tenants, along with buyers and sellers, details of all referral fees they receive.

Propertymark has backed the recommendation, saying: “New legislation which will require agents to display referral fees is a step forward, providing clarity to agents that they mustn’t fall foul of the law but importantly ensuring greater transparency for consumers to avoid an confusion about what agents are charging for.” 

Now Munro is to appear on a Propertymark webinar on November 18 at 10am.

“NTSELAT have produced a report for government about regulation of referral fees. James will provide background to the report, what you need to do and what the future holds” explains Propertymark.

You can register for it here.

NTSELAT has told the government that agents must be obliged to display such fees and says agents who flout this rule should be banned from the industry.

The proposal follows a review into the practice of referral fees and their impact on buyers and sellers in the UK property market carried out by Trading Standards at the request of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government. 

The recommendations include proposals for government to make transparency of referral fees mandatory and require a warning to be given to customers that they should consider shopping around, plus a public awareness programme to warn consumers about hidden referral fees, and additional industry guidance with professional bodies and redress schemes to encourage compliance.

Accompanying the recommendations, a statement from Munro - the senior manager at NTSELAT - said: “Mandatory disclosure of referral fees would ensure there is full transparency around this practice, helping to build consumer confidence in the estate agency industry and demonstrating the duty of care agents should have to both parties in a property sale.”