Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to require property management companies to need a licence to operate which can be withdrawn in the event of (a) abusive, (b) negligent and (c) financially exploitative behaviour.  [86594]

[Due for Answer on 4 November]

ANSWER

The Minister of State for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook): I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 77534 on 17 October 2025.

* * *

[Question 77534, tabled on 16 September 2025 and answered on 17 October 2025

Sir James Cleverly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulation of property agents.

The Minister of State for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook): The government is committed to ensuring that those living in the rented and leasehold sectors are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents. Property agents must already belong to a government-approved redress scheme. This legislative requirement is currently enforced by local authorities and by the National Trading Standards’ Lettings and Estate Agency Team, who have the power to issue warnings and banning orders to rogue estate and letting agents.

The previous government committed to regulate the property agent sector in 2018 and asked a working group chaired by Lord Best to advise them how to do it, yet it failed to respond to their findings from 2019.

Managing agents play a key role in the maintenance of multi-occupancy buildings and freehold estates, and their importance will only increase as we transition toward a commonhold future, and so we are looking again at Lord Best’s 2019 report on regulating the property agent sector, particularly in light of the recommendations in the final Grenfell Inquiry report. On 4 July 2025, we launched a wide-ranging consultation on proposals to hold landlords and managing agents to account for the services they provide and the charges and fees they levy. This included a number of proposals recommended by Lord Best, including the introduction of mandatory qualifications for managing agents and estate managers on freehold estates. We are clear that this consultation is not the final step in the regulation of managing agents and we will continue to reflect on the various other recommendations made in the 2019 report. We will set out our full position on regulation of estate, letting and managing agents in due course.]