From October, all estate agents must have official approval, and not before time says Christian Harper of Oliver Finn.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has granted approval for a scheme to deal with complaints against estate agents. With the approval of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) redress scheme, all estate agents dealing with residential property in the UK will be required to join an approved scheme, which is expected to become law on 1 October 2008.
Once it becomes compulsory for all estate agents to join an approved scheme, buyers and sellers of residential property will be able to refer complaints concerning members of the scheme to an ombudsman to be determined. The service will be empowered to look at complaints and award compensation.
Fixed fee estate agency Oliver Finn joined the ombudsman scheme two years ago says Christian Harper:
“There is a significant level of dissatisfaction amongst buyers and sellers of residential property and it’s only right that anyone offering such services to the public, must be qualified and properly regulated. The scheme is free to buyers and sellers and is the benchmark of good practice in our industry.
“Oliver Finn has been a voluntary member of the OEA standard since the company was formed in 2006. This industry is far from perfect and the introduction of compulsory membership proves that some estate agents have some catching up to do.
”The OEA conducted a poll of Oliver Finn clients (click on the link below) and stated that the results were some of the best they had seen in the history of the surveys."
The ombudsman's decision is binding on the estate agent, although a complainant can choose to reject the decision and pursue their complaint through the courts.
John Fingleton, chief executive of the OFT, said: "The scheme is speedy and easily accessible and will ensure independence, fairness and transparency. We are also actively considering other applications to operate similar redress schemes."
Oliver Finn customer satisfaction survey - results are based on the opinions of Oliver Finn clients selected at random by Referenceline Ltd on behalf of the OEA.
