Property Services Regulatory Authority will help to restore confidence in property market and provide much needed transparency
Dublin West TD and Minister for Social Joan Burton has welcomed the announcement by her cabinet colleague Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter T.D, of the first Commencement Order and the Establishment Order under the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011.
The primary purpose of the Act is to establish the Property Services Regulatory Authority with a mandate to set and enforce standards in the provision of property services by auctioneers, letting agents and property management agents and to provide redress mechanisms for consumers of those services. The Authority will also have statutory responsibility for the publication of residential property sales prices and the establishment and maintenance of a Commercial Leases Database.
The Orders signed yesterday provide for the establishment of the Property Services Regulatory Authority on 3rd April, 2012.
Minister Shatter said that “the statutory functions of the Property Services Regulatory Authority include the publication of residential property sales prices and establishment of a Commercial Leases Database as well as the licensing of auctioneers, letting agents and property management agents. I believe that the lack of transparency in the residential housing market and the absence of proper consumer protection standards, have contributed in no small way to the problems of recent years. That is why the Programme for Government contains a strong commitment to improve the quality of information available on the Irish housing market by requiring that the selling price of all dwellings is recorded in a publicly available, national housing database.
I am pleased therefore to have delivered on the Government’s strong commitment to improved transparency in this legislation. I am confident that publication of residential property sales prices and information provided in the new Commercial Leases Database will help to restore much-needed confidence and revive property markets. I expect that this will be one of the Authority’s early priorities following its establishment.
Under the legislation, auctioneers will be required to publish a realistic “advised market value” of property for sale rather than using the discredited “guide price” mechanism. And the new requirement for transparency when auctioneers provide advice and information about the availability of loans from lending institutions to intending purchasers, will help to avoid the type of conflict of interests which can result in such purchasers borrowing excessively to their detriment.”
The Minister also today appointed a Chairperson and ten ordinary members to the Authority. The Minister announced in December 2011 that he was seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified members of the public to be considered for appointment and 113 applications were received in total. Under the legislation appointments will be on a part-time basis for a three or four year term.
The Chairperson is Ms. Geraldine Clarke who is a solicitor with Gleeson McGrath Baldwin, Solicitors, Dublin. Ms. Clarke is head of the firm’s Litigation Department and is a past President of the Law Society.
The ten other members appointed by the Minister to the Authority are:
· Ms. Carol Boate
· Mr. Edward Carey
· Mr. Patrick Davitt
· Mr. James Doorley
· Ms. Deirdre Fox
· Mr. Martin Hanratty
· Ms. Josephine Henry
· Mr. Paul Mooney
· Mr. Myles O’Reilly
· Ms. Regina Terry
Announcing the members of the new Authority the Minister said:
“I am delighted to announce details of these appointments today. I was extremely impressed with the overall standard of application I received when I sought expressions of interest for appointment to the Authority last December and I can assure you that my task in selecting the most suitably qualified candidates was not an easy one.
I am confident however that I have appointed members of the very highest calibre who between them have a vast range of skills, knowledge and experience in consumer affairs, business, finance, management or administration and other subjects necessary to assist the Authority in performing its functions.
The establishment of the Property Services Regulatory Authority and the appointment of the above members to the Authority will provide clients of property service providers with much greater confidence in future property transactions and associated business dealings. It will at the same time ensure that there is a proper oversight of the new standards which will reflect well on auctioneers, estate agents and property management agents throughout the country. The harsh economic environment we have operated in as a country for the last few years has been particularly difficult and challenging for those involved in all aspects of the property business and therefore the establishment of the new Authority and the appointment of its members is timely and very welcome.
Finally, I want to thank all those who expressed an interest in becoming a member of the Authority following my public invitation for expressions of interest.”