Property agents. Properly regulated.

The government agrees: property should be done properly.

Prospect welcomes the government's plans to introduce independent regulation of property agents for the first time.

Announced on 29 September 2026, the proposals would mean estate agents, letting agents and managing agents need a licence and appropriate qualifications to operate.

Regulation could be a positive step towards building greater trust in the property process. It would set clearer standards for the service agents provide, while making it harder for rogue operators to remain in the industry.

What’s on the table?

An independent regulator would oversee estate agents, letting and managing agents, as well as estate managers. Under the plans:

• Agents would need a licence and appropriate qualifications to operate.
• The regulator could set codes of practice covering professional conduct and complaint handling.
• Agents who fail to meet the required standards could have their licence removed.

The structure, qualification requirements, licence costs and timetable have not yet been decided.

Good enough never is.

Professional standards are already an important part of how we work.

Many of our team hold recognised property qualifications and professional memberships, including MARLA (Member of the Association of Residential Letting Agents) through ARLA Propertymark. We’re also proud members of The Property Ombudsman.

ARLA Propertymark membership requires relevant qualifications at member level, while Propertymark members are required to continue their professional development each year.

For us, keeping our knowledge up to date and working to professional standards is already part of doing property, properly.

What else has been announced?

The announcement also included proposed changes for leaseholders and homeowners on privately managed estates.

Currently, leaseholders can be charged fees for certain permissions or administrative work. Depending on the lease, this can include seeking permission to make changes to a property or requesting documents and information.

Under the new proposals, limits could be placed on how much can be charged for some of these fees. No limits have been set yet. A public consultation will decide which fees should be covered and the amounts that could be charged.

This is separate from service charges, which cover costs associated with managing and maintaining a building and providing services to leaseholders. The proposals would also cover some similar fees paid by homeowners on privately managed estates.

Keeping you up to date

There are no immediate changes for property agents or leaseholders. More detail is still to come on both the new regulator and the proposed limits on fees.

We’ll continue to follow the announcements and explain what they mean for our clients as the details are confirmed.

For more information about existing responsibilities, explore our landlord compliance checklist.