Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [Lords]

That is a reasonable point, and I partly agree and partly disagree with the hon. Lady. She made my case by talking about rogue solicitors. We generally regard the legal profession as having some of the highest standards of any professional body. However, that does not stop rogue solicitors. We still see the odd court case in which a solicitor is struck off. The solicitor’s body and regulation by Government means that rogue solicitors can be banned. As for whether the scheme would raise standards, there is already enough legislation for estate agents. The Bill will introduce new redress schemes and penalties and we need to see how that settles down, although I am not saying that we would be opposed to a full licensing scheme for estate agents for ever more. I know that the hon. Lady probably will not agree with me, but I hope that I have given her some reasons why we will not support new clause 2. I want to encourage estate agents to work to the highest possible standards. We need to ensure that the public are better informed about what the professional bodies—the RICS, the NAEA and the Association of Residential Letting Agents—do and that we strongly advise them to use members of those organisations. It may be useful for the House to consider some of the ways in which estate agents operate, and the Minister may also wish to do so when he rejects the overall estate agents licensing scheme. As a professional, I am well aware of some of the pitfalls that estate agents can encounter and thus fall short of what they should do. The whole issue of offers is a difficult one and I am not sure that all estate agents handle offers in the most open and transparent way. They may not always report them to their clients as they should or give their client proper advice. They may use offers to wind up the price or fail to report them if they are trying to get a lower price on a house for a friend. The area of offers can be difficult for some less scrupulous estate agents. Estate agents and chartered surveyors—my own profession—have often been criticised over valuations, which can be difficult and which may vary for several reasons. In a fast-rising market, such as that in London today, or even a fast-falling market that might occur in a slump, one can value a property one day without knowing that the next that special purchaser will come along and offer 20 per cent. more, making one’s valuation look stupid. That often happens. Which? has been campaigning alongside the hon. Lady to introduce a full licensing scheme and it sent round anonymous inspectors to see whether estate agents were signing unfair contracts. It found that in many cases the contracts were unfair. I hope that the Minister will confirm that the other provisions in the Bill on solicited calls, as opposed to unsolicited calls, will also apply to estate agents. Let us suppose that an estate agent went to see someone on a solicited basis—that is to say, an appointment has been made—and said, ““It will cost this much for us to provide this service to let your house. Please sign on the dotted line now.”” If the consumer decides overnight that the charge is unreasonable, will the solicited provisions in the Bill apply to the transaction? Will the consumer have the right to rescind the signed contract the next day? I welcome the redress scheme, but it does not go far enough. As my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan) said on Second Reading, estate agents can be fined up to £25,000 under the existing legislation, but in only six of the 497 cases brought in 2005 did the fines amount to more than £3,000. I hope that the Minister will be able to reassure the House that the Bill will give the redress scheme real teeth. The Minister may well say that the Government are to have a review of the three categories that I have set out, but that would be no more than an excuse for inaction. I hope that he will tell us precisely what the Bill covers and, more important, that he will describe the Government’s thinking about lettings, internet sales and direct development sales, and his proposals for their regulation in the future.