Call for regulation of property managers

A working party set up by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has called for the property management industry to be formally regulated. This was the centrepiece of a range of measures encouraging greater transparency in the sector and raising industry standards.

The recommendation came as a result of a thorough investigation by RICS into the operating practices of the residential property management industry, particularly with regard to service charges and insurance commissions. Commenting on the announcement, Gerry Fox, a member of the RICS working party said: “It is significant that … there has been extensive legislation directly involving this sector in 1972, 1974, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1993, 1996, and 2002. The extensive legislation…can only point to a lack of success. I liken it to the smoker who has given up smoking many times. Once or twice should have been enough.”