Industry regulator the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team is to have its funding doubled to nearly £500,000 a year.

NTSEAT is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which made the announcement in a press release headlined: “Government boosts funding to tackle rogue estate agents.”

The announcement, released at at midnight, came after NTSEAT revealed that last year (2017/2018) its caseload soared, receiving 459 complaints – up from 246 in the previous year.

NTSEAT issued 16 prohibition orders last year, compared with 12 in 2016/17.

At the end of its year in April, it had 53 cases under investigation.

NTSEAT, run by Powys Council in Wales with backing from Anglesey Council, took over from the Office of Fair Trading in April 2014 – and it quickly became apparent that it was badly stretched in terms of funding.

The new money will go towards more staff, as NTSEAT is given additional responsibilities.

One is in the new-build sector and the other will be policing the upfront disclosure of referral fees by agents.

Housing minister Heather Wheeler said that NTSEAT will be concentrating on three focus areas:

• Rooting out ‘rogue agents’ – giving the regulator the tools to step up its enforcement action by increasing the number of cases under investigation and the ability to issue more banning orders;
•  Making fees more transparent – enabling the regulator to enforce new expectations on estate agents to disclose referral fees upfront so consumers know exactly where their money is going when recommended services; and
•  Protecting new-build buyers – enabling the regulator to investigate whether homebuyers are being provided with the right information and what could be done to improve the way new-build properties are sold.

Wheeler said: “Making the housing market work is about more than just building homes, but helping hard working families buy and sell with confidence.

“This new funding will help ensure all estate agents are held to a high standard, reducing stress for people when making one of the most important purchases in their life.”

Lord Toby Harris, chair of National Trading Standards, said: “We are determined to ensure that consumers receive the protection they deserve when buying or selling a home.

“This extra funding is welcome and will allow the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team to do more to tackle the estate agents who flout the rules.”

This is the latest move by government to make the housing market work better for home buyers, with measures to professionalise the estate agent market announced last April, said the official  statement.

A new national qualification is expected to be introduced later this year, intended to drive up standards among the 20,000 estate agent businesses across the country.

However, it is not clear what agents will be required to do in displaying referral fees – for example, as to whether it is actual amounts.

Yesterday evening, NAEA Propertymark boss Mark Hayward told EYE: “Any steps to ban rogue estate agents are very welcome and we are pleased to see that the Government has increased its funding for the national estate agent regulator.

“Consumers should expect to be given the right information when they are buying or selling a home and stamping out bad practice and poor standards in the industry is the only way this can be guaranteed.

 “The Government is still looking at the question of referral fees which came out of the call for evidence into the House Buying and Selling Process and has yet to be make a decision.”