New property Bill better for consumers – expert
Legalbrief Today
Stricter regulations for estate agents and others in the property industry will speed up transactions and offer better protection for consumers, says a report in The Witness quoting Christo Weilbach, national president of the Institute of Estate Agents. He said specific changes in the new Property Practitioners Bill – which will replace the current Estate Agency Affairs Act – include stricter regulation of property practitioners and the marketing, promotion, managing, sale, letting, financing and purchase of immovable property. ‘The new Act is very simple, it will regulate the property practitioners, deal with protection and interest of consumers and ease the speed resolution mechanism in the property market, something we lack at this stage in the current Act,’ said Weilbach. He said under the new Bill, when there are disputes, estate agents would be able to contact the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority, instead of the matters being dealt with in a civil court. ‘There have been problems with compliance and enforcement of the Act in the past and complaints that the regulatory body therein established did not deliver on the services as it should have.’ He said concerns included ‘the effectiveness and the implementation’. ‘It should not only be a nice-to-have, but regulations that enforce compliance and a better-run sector. It needs to effect real change; that is what property owners need.’ Weilbach noted there would also be quite a few changes that would create more administration for practitioners.