Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

Ah—my hon. Friend, who is now an Opposition Whip, has pointed out that he, too, is a chartered surveyor. I was of course including him among the four, but I congratulate him not only on being a member of the eminent body of chartered surveyors, but on his promotion to the Opposition Whip’s Bench. It is great to see him there. So there are only five chartered surveyors in the House, and I am delighted to be here. Perhaps I should say a little more about estate agents and some of the practices that they get up to when I discuss the new clause tabled by the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Susan Kramer), but suffice it to say at this stage that the purpose of our new clause is to update the regulation of estate agents. Although we do not approve of the Liberal Democrats’ proposal for a full licensing scheme, not including the residential letting sector, the direct sales from developers sector and some agency sales via the internet are a considerable lacuna—perhaps the biggest in the Bill. We want to be very clear whether the Bill does cover that latter activity; I hope that the Minister can enlighten us when he replies. As I said, the rental sector has increased by at least a third since the 1979 Act was passed. The letting sector is huge and if today’s interest rate rises are anything to go by, I suspect that it will become even bigger. Of course, it deals with some of the more vulnerable in our society—those who are less able to defend themselves when things to wrong—so not including it in the Bill seems a huge lacuna. I should be grateful if the Minister enlightened us as to why the Bill does not cover the rental market. Also on the increase—and also not included in the Bill—is direct sale from developers to consumers. Anybody involved in the housing market, particularly in the south-east, knows that this sector, too, is growing apace. However, it seems that that sector is not to be regulated, either. A lot of people buy houses off-plan directly from developers. They might be first-time buyers, and they probably have not got the expertise genuinely to assess whether the developer in question is selling them a pup, or they are getting the purchase that they envisage from the perhaps rather over-coloured plans. That is the second sector that, in our view, the Bill does not adequately cover, and which new clause 1 would include. The third sector consists of the various types of organisations—and they do vary—which sell or let houses via the internet. According to a rough estimate that I made the other day, there are at least 100 such organisations offering services in that way. Again, the more vulnerable will be tempted use their internet search engines to find some form of letting arrangement and to deal with such an agency. They might not have the knowledge to understand whether their transaction is being handled through a true and honest mechanism. For that reason, such activities need in some way to be regulated under the Bill. Before the Minister replies, I should point out that our new clause would not alter the Bill one iota: all it would do is give the Secretary of State the power to deal with such matters. As the market is developing in a fairly dynamic way, particularly on the internet, it would be very sensible to include this power in the Bill. It might prove to be like section 22 of the 1979 Act, in that it is never used, but given that the House is unlikely, owing to pressure on parliamentary time, to return to the issue of regulating estate agencies for at least five years—perhaps even 10 years, given how this House operates and the sheer volume of legislation that it has to handle—not dealing with this issue now would be a real missed opportunity. I hope that the Minister will think again, even at this late stage, although I do not hold out any particular hopes. The hon. Member for Richmond Park will move her new clause 2 in a minute, but I hope that it is in order, while I am on my feet, just to say a few words about it now—or would you prefer, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that I deal with it after the hon. Lady has moved it?