Industry veteran and regulation expert is new ARLA president

The ARLA Propertymark president for the year ahead is a long-standing board member with significant experience in regulation.

Angela Davey succeeds Phil Keddie, and has over 30 years’ industry experience and has been an ARLA board member and regional representative for many years. 

Since 2016 she has been a member of the stakeholder group directly responsible for advising Welsh Government on housing policy and has created training for agents accredited by the Rent Smart Wales regulatory system.

“I’m honoured to have been appointed the first Welsh ARLA Propertymark President. The sector has changed significantly over the last few years, however it is my intention to use my time in role to bring both sides of Propertymark together so that from a member’s perspective, we lead the way in setting the highest standards within our property industry” she says.

There is also a new NAEA Propertymark president, Kirsty Finney - she’s a director of a Belfast agency. 

A statement from Propertymark says the pair take over after a year of activity for their organisations including lobbying for Business Rate Relief for agencies and the inclusion of commission in calculations for furlough payments. 

The past year also saw the controversial departure of David Cox as ARLA chief executive. Cox - who joined ARLA back in 2014 - had been told he could not apply for the new role of head of the joint NAEA/ARLA Propertymark organisation when Mark Hayward, the chief executive of the NAEA, retires later this year.

Former Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer, who is chairman of Propertymark, says of the new presidents: “Angela and Kirsty are both experienced agents who bring strong knowledge of their sectors and will be great representatives of the industry.”