Overview
- The housing minister has put forward a plan to require estate agents to sign up to a legal professional register and to bar anyone who is not registered from practising.
- The push follows hundreds of consumer complaints about the buying process, including cases where buyers were denied access to bidding logs, which the minister cites as evidence that sector codes lack enforcement power.
- Under the proposal agents would be bound by statutory conduct rules focused on transparency, correct information and equal treatment, and consumers could use the existing dispute committee to file complaints.
- The legislative route is unresolved because PVV MP Jeremy Mooiman is preparing an initiative law with a similar register while the ministry is drafting its own rules and has said it will cooperate with parliamentary efforts.
- Key details remain open, including whether rules will cover rental services, how enforcement and removal from the register will work in practice, and what steps will be taken to limit cost rises for agents as the ministry finalises rules early next year.