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WQ.82/2023
WRITTEN QUESTION TO
THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
BY DEPUTY M.B. ANDREWS OF ST. HELIER NORTH QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 27th FEBRUARY 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 6th MARCH 2023
Question
“Will the Minister advise whether he will seek to regulate Estate Agents, and if so, when such regulation would be implemented?”
Answer
At present there are no plans to introduce new legislation regulating estate agents. I would highlight the current regulations in place as described below.
The Consumer Protection (Unfair Practices) (Jersey) Law 2018 came into force in June 2018 which provides a comprehensive framework for the protection of consumers against unfair commercial practices. The Law extends to consumers who engage the services of estate agents, including to sell and to purchase property.
The Law enables Trading Standards to tackle unfair commercial practices, including:
• misleading advertisements and listings;
• misleading omissions where a business has failed to provide the consumer with important material information in good time;
• aggressive practices;
• banned practices; and
• failure to act in accordance with professional diligence.
The Law supports estate agents to adopt good practice in their business activities and enables Trading Standards to deal with estate agents which do not comply with the specified standards of practice.
The Minister is unconvinced that a strong need has been established for bespoke regulation of estate agents. Many estate agents in Jersey already adopt good practice. A number of estate agents are, for example, already members of representative trade bodies such as the National Association of Estate Agents and comply with industry-led standards. This includes requirements in relation to qualifications for staff members to make sure they are appropriately qualified to carry out estate agent activities. Consumers in Jersey can therefore choose estate agents that are part of the NAEA, which provides access to a client money protection scheme and an independent redress scheme.