NAEA – Regulation will protect consumers from unprofessional agents

Increased regulation of the housing market will help consumers see the difference between professional estate agents and those who fail to deliver high standards.

This is the view of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), which said it would like to see a "greater level" of regulation.

The comment follows the recent publication of an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report which said the UK housing market could benefit from innovative measures to break the dominance that estate agents have in the housing market.

However, despite calling for a "better deal" for consumers, the OFT report revealed a high level of satisfaction among estate agents' customers.

Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive, said: "We are very happy that the OFT's study has shown the very high levels of consumer satisfaction with estate agents.

"However, once again the OFT has categorically failed to see that better regulation of the home buying and selling market is required. Buying a home is often the largest single transaction of a person's life and it is disappointing that the OFT has not thought it appropriate to acknowledge that a robust and appropriate level of consumer protection is needed."

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