Government criticised for ‘disappointing’ response to agent regulation inquiry

The chairperson of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has hit back at the Government’s approach – or lack of one – to estate agency regulation.

The committee conducted a short inquiry into agency regulation earlier this year and wrote to Housing Secretary in March 2024 urging the Government to get in with implementing the recommendations of Lord Best’s Regulation of Property Agents (ROPA) report.

Housing Minister Lee Rowley said in a response earlier this month that the Government believed ongoing legislation on renter’s rights and leasehold reform was not the right place to set up a new regulatory body.

The committee chair Baroness Taylor has hit back, stating disappointment at the “brevity” of the response and department position that didn’t address any of the committee’s conclusions

She said: “This is particularly disappointing given that it was the department that asked to respond to the Committee in writing, rather than through an oral evidence session as we had requested. 

“Moreover, given the brevity of your letter, it was all the more frustrating to receive it two weeks after the deadline we had set. 

“Taken together, we do not believe this is a satisfactory approach to parliamentary scrutiny of government policy.

"We note your willingness to discuss these important matters further in the future, and we will be receptive to requests for a discussion as you suggest. However, in the interests of parliamentary scrutiny, we will still expect a full written response to the committee’s original conclusions and recommendations.”