So, a couple of news stories have caught my eye over the past couple of weeks, the first story, no one will have missed, Boris Johnson as our new Prime Minister.
This has certainly split opinion, with the media and also with the public. Social media has treated us to a whole load of regurgitated videos and memes, showing the British certainly have a sense of humour regarding politics.
A new Prime Minister could have a big impact on the housing market over the next year, with a new housing secretary (Robert Jenrick) and talk of a new government backed shared ownership/ rent and buy scheme which may well replace the existing help to buy scheme.
Pressure to change the stamp duty rates, which is causing issues in many areas with talk that stamp duty be passed to a seller rather than the purchaser, which would be bold and possibly problematic.
The second news item which will have gone unnoticed to most, is Lord Best’s report to the government from the regulation of Property Agents Group set up by the government last year has recommended licensing of all individuals working within the property industry.
This is something quality agents like ourselves have been supporters of, to raise standards across the industry and eliminate the rogue agents. The likely standard would be passing the entrance examinations to the National Association of Estate Agents NAEA (ARLA for letting agents), together known as PropertyMark.
The licencing would ensure agents have a good knowledge of the industry, property law and best practice. There is also compulsory personal development, which ensures that the agents will need to continually improve their knowledge and standards, which can only be good for the customer.
At JW Wood we already have 10 qualified members of staff in addition to other professionally qualified team members being members of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or having estate management degrees.
This is likely to become law over the next year, and we currently have more staff working towards the qualification, to ensure we stay ahead of the game.
