Helen Hayes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending a ban from operating as a letting agent or sales agent to include a ban on operating as a sales agent or letting agent.

Gavin Barwell

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduces a package of measures to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords and letting agents. They include the ability to seek a banning order against a landlord or letting or managing agent who has been convicted of a banning order offence. This provision is expected to come into force in 2017.

There are separate powers to ban sales agents under the Estate Agents Act 1979. Letting agents and sales agents carry out different functions and operate under different legislation. We do not currently have any plans to introduce legislation that would ban someone from being a sales agent where they have been banned from being a letting agent or vice versa. I would be happy to meet the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood to discuss this issue.