ARLA leadership to be merged with NAEA at start of 2021

Propertymark has announced that the leadership structure of the lettings side is to be merged with the estate agency section, with just one chief executive from the start of next year.

Until now the Association of Residential Lettings Agents has had its own chief executive - David Cox - while the estate agency side has been led separately by Mark Hayward.

Now Hayward is to retire and a statement from Propertymark says: “The board has decided to take the opportunity to move towards a single Propertymark structure. As such the board has decided to commence a process to identify and appoint a chief executive officer for Propertymark Ltd, with the successful candidate to commence in post in 2021.”

Under Hayward and Cox’s leadership, the two divisions have become much closer anyway, especially under the consumer-focussed brand of Propertymark, with its emphasis on consumer protection and the need for a single voice to represent the interests of the property industry. 

Both Hayward and Cox successfully lobbied the government for business rate relief for agents during the Coronavirus crisis and the inclusion of commission within furlough calculations to support members. 

Both also called for sector regulation and were members of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group, which was formed by MHCLG and chaired by Lord Best, to advise government on how to make regulation of property agents a reality.