HL Deb 08 December 1992 vol 541 cc175-7

8.8 p.m.

Baroness Denton of Wakefield rose to move, That the order laid before the House on 18th November be approved [12th Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the Estate Agents Act empowers the Director General of Fair Trading to make orders prohibiting unfit persons from doing estate agency work. The Estate Agents (Specified Qffences) No. 2 Order 1991 extended the range of circumstances in which the director general may exercise his powers to prohibit persons whom he considered to be unfit. It did so by specifying a number of offences which could trigger the director general's powers to prohibit.

The order adds the offence of property misdescription to the list of trigger offences. It complements the enactment last year of the Property Misdescriptions Act which creates the offence of making false or misleading statements about property in the course of estate agency and property development. A parallel order will give practical effect to that Act.

The order is the product of wide-ranging consultation. Trade associations, professional organisations and consumer groups were invited to comment. My department received, in addition, numerous personal representations on the matter. I should like to thank everyone who contributed constructively to the consultation. The cost to estate agents of complying with the order will be negligible, nor is it anticipated that there will be an increase in the enforcement costs of the Office of Fair Trading. I beg to move.

Moved, That the order laid before the House on 18th November be approved [12th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Baroness Denton of Wakefield.)

Lord Graham of Edmonton

My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Peston, who is unavoidably delayed, may I simply warmly welcome this measure, especially when I can tell the House that it was my honourable friend in another place, Bryan Davies, as the Member of Parliament for Enfield North in 1979, who brought in the original Bill to which has been added these various safeguards. He is back in the House now representing Oldham. He must have taken a great interest in the matter.

There is nothing with which we would disagree. However, I wonder whether the Minister can help us. She invited the House to add to the list of trigger actions the words in the order. Will she tell us some of the illustrations that she must have in her file? I am intrigued. I know that draftsmen and ministries do not idly spend their time and money: there must have been some good illustrations. The order must be the product of the situation in the housing market over the recent period. We know that it was volatile in 1988 and 1989 and that it has been absolutely dead from 1990 to the present day. Could the Minister explain some of the causes for bringing forward the order now?

Will the noble Baroness also explain the extent of the order? Are we reacting to complaints from a few people, valid as they are, or is there widespread demand and need for this addition? In addition to the bodies that I am sure were properly consulted, was there an endeavour, for instance, to consult the citizens advice bureaux? As a Member of the other place, I would have a number of constituents bringing to me their aggravations about misdescriptions of property. In my experience then, as now, the citizens advice bureaux were often inundated with this sort of thing.

Although bona fide estate agents would not mind being policed or having to conform with the order, is it the case that they themselves were anxious that it should be introduced or did they simply acquiesce and see it as inevitable that their industry needed to carry this additional burden? The Minister will understand that these are benign questions; they are not malevolent or malicious. They are designed to elicit information. If I had been advised perhaps earlier than my noble friend advised me tonight, I might have taken the trouble to find this out before, but I was not, and that is why I ask these questions.

Baroness Denton of Wakefield

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Graham, for his support. The purpose of this order is simply to allow the director general to prohibit individuals convicted of an offence under the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991, whom he considers unfit, from continuing to engage in estate agency work. Tonight all we are considering is that if this order was not made such individuals would be able to continue in business as estate agents, and not that the matter of misdescriptions was discussed and dealt with in the earlier Act. I would reassure the noble Lord that the department has close relationships with the citizens advice bureaux and recognises their closeness to the consumer, and they are part of the people with whom we keep in regular conversation. Had they wanted to comment on this particular order, I am sure they would have done so.

The estate agents who are behaving properly and ethically are delighted to ensure that the reputation of their profession is maintained. It may help the noble Lord if I draw attention to the fact that the number of prohibition orders made since the Estate Agents Act came into force is 177, but not significantly changing this year, which I think answers his question as to whether the market has forced people out. With this Act we give the Director General for Fair Trading the power to act. I should be grateful if the House would support this order.

Lord Graham of Edmonton

My Lords, before the noble Baroness sits down, I should say that the figure she has given of 177 cases that have caused action—and we know that for every one who is caught or dealt with there will be many others who escape—is sufficient for this minor piece of legislation and the time taken by Parliament to effect an additional protection. I accept what the noble Baroness has said that we are not concerned with the Act itself, but with prohibiting those who have been found guilty of contravening the Act from continuing to operate.

Estate agency is sadly one of those professions where almost anyone can set up as an estate agent, and if the gullible public care to deal with the cowboys and the sharks, then they need protection. I look upon this as a good piece of consumer protection legislation.

Baroness Denton of Wakefield

My Lords, I again thank the noble Lord. I am able to answer on a couple of points on property misdescription, which may be helpful to the House. Claims that an historic character lived in a house that are not sustainable would not be acceptable; nor would the claim that the house is in a quiet street when it suffers from community traffic. We are looking at specifically the same thing.

On Question, Motion agreed to.