A new lease of life: - CentreForum

A New Lease of Lifechampion for leaseholders to balance against managers’associations. The regulatory regime could be similar to the modelsused by the Scottish and Irish governments, and should include:::Maintenance of a licence to operate with a monitoringregime and disciplinary process;::Qualifications with training and exams;::A compulsory ombudsman service.Regulation should ensure both that managing companies havecorrect procedures in place and that their staff have sufficientknowledge and skills.Maintain licence to operate with the threat ofexpulsionAll managing agents would require a licence to operate. Theregulator should maintain a register of companies and communicatewith managing agents the standards that they must maintainthrough a code of conduct. It would be simple to introduce such acode – self-regulating agents already abide by a RICS managementcode of practice which is approved by the government. 87 This, or asimilar document, would simply have to be rolled out and adoptedacross the industry. The most important elements should be thatmanaging agents:::Subscribe to the ombudsman service;::Attain necessary qualifications;::Operate an internal complaints procedure;::Publicise the leaseholders’ handbook of rights;::Operate at arm’s length with any connected companies,and declare such relationships;::Declare all commission received.The regulator should maintain a complaints and disciplinaryprocess, including the ability to issue fines and formal warnings.The regulator’s ultimate sanction would be the removal of thelicence to operate. This would be an important new power that doesnot currently exist and should be seen as an option of last resort -but a real one - to be used when an agent has consistently failed tomanage in accordance with the licence.87 Members of ARMA and RICS must abide by a government-approved code ofpractice (produced by RICS) for property management.50