Labour fails in latest attempt to get ROPA rules introduced

Attempts to get the long-awaited Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) rules introduced into the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill have failed.

The Government has previously said it is committed to introducing Lord Best’s ROPA rules published in 2019 but little has happened since.

Labour Shadow Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook put forward an amendment to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill that would “implement the proposals within 24 months of the Act coming into force and to report on progress to that end at the end of the period of 12 months.”

While the amendment would have focused on the standards and qualifications of property managers, the ROPA rules extended to the wider estate agency sector.
 

Speaking during the third reading of the Leasehold and Freehold Bill this week, Labour MP Clive Betts said:”The Government has legislated to say that the managers of social housing will need professional qualifications in future, but what is the difference between a manager of social housing and a property manager of leasehold blocks? In some ways, there may be greater complications in trying to manage a multitude of different leaseholders than people who have secure tenancies in a council or housing association block of flats. What is the difference?

“Why will the Government not recognise that there are some good property managers who are well qualified, experienced and can be held to account, but others who are not like that?”

However, the amendment was rejected by MPs during a vote in the parliamentary session.

The leasehold legislation will now be considered in the House of Lords where it is unclear if the issue of ROPA will be raised again.