Real estate agents to face mandatory register as self-regulation

The government plans to introduce a register of real estate agents as well as a complaints desk for buyers and sellers after an investigation revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the industry.

In a letter to parliament on Thursday, housing minister Elanor Boekholt-O’Sullivan said the moves come after attempts to get the sector to regulate itself had failed.

“Unfortunately, I must conclude that the professional associations are unable to take the necessary further steps,” the D66 minister wrote.

Until 2001, real estate agents had to be licensed, like lawyers and architects. Currently, anyone can call themselves a real estate agent and while there are two trade organisations in the Netherlands, both say they don’t have the ability to stand up to unscrupulous agents.

“We have consistently said over the past few years that a voluntary approach does not work here. The minister is now drawing the same conclusion,” Tristan Bons, deputy director of real estate association Vastgoed Nederland said in a statement.

According to Bons, the association doesn’t have the power to punish anyone as membership is voluntary and problem agents can simply leave the group.

Nearly a third of the respondents to the government-commissioned survey had at least one negative experience with a real estate agent. Almost 90% of those complaints involved an agent affiliated with a trade association.

Just 2% of people made an official complaint. Complaints vary from passing along confidential information to driving up the price of housing.

In August, homeowners association Vereniging Eigen Huis said it had received 900 reports between February and July on a special hotline for issues with real estate agents. Issues ranged from buyers feeling pressure to bid beyond their budgets to agents favouring certain clients over others.