Estate Agents Act 1979: encouraging new business models
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Detail of outcome
The government response addresses consultations on proposals to amend the Estate Agents Act (EAA) 1979 and repeal the Properties Misdescriptions Act 1991. It found uncertainty and a range of views among stakeholders about applying the EAA to intermediary businesses, such as private sales portals, particularly online.
Taking responses into account, the government decided to exclude intermediaries from the scope of the EAA. This merely enables private sellers to advertise their properties and helps sellers and buyers to make contact and communicate online.
This limited deregulation would help consumers and to the industry without unduly reducing consumer protection.
Original consultation
Consultation description
Seeks views on a proposal to amend section 1 of the Estate Agents Act 1979, to change the current definition of ‘estate agency work’ to open up the estate agency market to new business models. The proposal aims to help businesses to innovate and grow and allow new business models to emerge whilst protecting consumers.
