Why having RICS regulation is so important

As someone who is both a managing agent and a leaseholder, I welcome this consultation.

Let’s not pretend the system is perfect. But the vast majority of managing agents I know care deeply about the buildings and communities they look after. They work around the clock and deliver multi-million-pound fire safety projects under extreme pressure. And they do so in a system that rarely rewards their hard work, care, or diligence.

That’s why, if we’re serious about professionalising the sector, we need to do more than just raise the bar, we need to ensure that firms who consistently go the extra mile are properly recognised and fairly remunerated.

Good management takes time, expertise, and resources. Clients want value, of course—but value is not the same as cost-cutting, and fair and reasonable doesn’t always equate to cheap. If managing agents are to meet the new standards being proposed, they need the time to prepare comprehensive service charge accounts, run robust consultations, liaise with fire engineers, support leaseholder engagement, and deliver fully compliant insurance and procurement strategies. That doesn’t happen on a shoestring.

This is where RICS has rightly stepped in to provide leadership. Following the government’s consultation announcement, RICS CEO Justin Young praised the proposals as:

“An important step forward in raising standards and improving transparency in the leasehold sector… Mandatory qualifications for managing agents will help to achieve this. We fully support the Government’s ambition to deliver meaningful, proportionate reform… RICS … ensures the highest level of professionalism across our membership.”

These themes are already embedded within RICS’s Residential Service Charge Code. While not legally mandatory for all, it carries weight in Tribunal decisions and has been approved by the Secretary of State.

We are proud to announce that BPM is now a RICS-regulated firm. It’s not just a professional achievement, it’s a public statement about how we run our business: with integrity, expertise, and accountability.

That matters. Because whether we like it or not, the public perception of managing agents is still shaped by sensational headlines. BBC coverage of leasehold tends to lean towards the negative: horror stories of £100,000 bills, poorly managed and unsafe buildings, or inaccessible customer service. These cases are important to report, and they reflect genuine problems. But they don’t reflect the thousands of agents quietly and professionally delivering for their clients.

We need to shift the narrative. Regulation, qualification, and transparency won’t just protect leaseholders, they’ll also protect and elevate the agents who are already doing the right thing. Those of us who follow best practice, who manage budgets tightly and ethically, working towards creating communities, should not be tarnished by the failures of a small minority. But unless we embrace reform and lead from the front, that distinction will remain invisible to the public.

The Property Institute (TPI) has also laid the groundwork for this shift. Its Programme Enhance initiative signals clear support for stronger compliance, mandatory qualifications, and raising professional standards across the board. This consultation echoes that momentum and brings it into sharp legislative focus.

The consultation makes clear that managing agents will need to prepare for a new standard of reporting: annual reports with building condition summaries, standardised service charge templates, disclosure of commissions, and accountability for litigation costs. The industry should not underestimate the scale of this transformation, but neither should it resist it.

Because here’s the truth: the best agents are already doing this. We’re not scared of the spotlight—we welcome it.

So, to my fellow agents: prepare for these changes as if they’re going to happen, because they are. And to those seeking a new approach, whether you’re an RTM company, freeholder, or developer, I’ll say this:

If you’re looking for a managing agent who’s already operating at the level the sector is moving towards, BPM is ready.

Christopher Wade is the Director of BPM Limited, an award-winning managing agent based in Mayfair. BPM specialises in the management of high-rise, mixed-use and complex estates with a focus on transparency, safety and community.