The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR, formerly DTI) has announced that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) Ombudsman Scheme (SOS) has been approved under the Housing Act as a redress scheme for the purposes of HIP-related complaints against estate agents.
Complaints related to Home Information Packs (HIPs)Under the Housing Act 2004, any estate agent in England and Wales marketing a home requiring a HIP will have to belong to an approved redress scheme, from the date HIPs are introduced (now to be 1st August 2007). This means consumers will have access to redress for HIP-related complaints against estate agents.
Redress schemes approved under the Housing Act 2004, for the purpose of dealing with HIP-related complaints are:
* Ombudsman for Estate Agents' HIPs redress scheme
* Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' Surveyor Ombudsman Scheme
Estate agents marketing a home requiring a HIP, under HIP legislation (so for properties with 4 or more bedrooms and marketed as such from 1st August), will need to belong to either of these two schemes.
Redress for Complaints Against Estate AgentsIt is the Government's intention that from April 2008, estate agents in the UK should be required to belong to a redress scheme covering all estate agency complaints related to the buying and selling of residential property.
The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress (CEAR) Bill, currently going through Parliament, makes provision for this. Once the CEAR Bill comes into force and the redress provisions are implemented, the Housing Act provisions relating to redress schemes will be repealed as HIP-related complaints will be considered by approved schemes under the CEAR Bill.
Redress schemes under the CEAR Bill will be approved by the OFT. The OFT have recently consulted on the criteria they will use for approving schemes. They intend to publish their response to the consultation, together with a summary of responses in August. More information is available on the OFT website.
