§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will seek to amend the Estate Agents Act 1979 to include reference to buying and selling houses on the internet. [166113]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Office of Fair Trading report on estate agents recommended that the definition of estate agency work in the Estate Agents Act 1979 be reconsidered to ensure that consumers buying and selling by non-traditional means, including the internet, are afforded the same protection in law as those who employ the services of traditional estate agents.
The Department will consider carefully this and the report's other recommendations, and aims to publish a response by 18 June 2004.