Foxtons joins Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme

Work by the new Ombudsman for Estate Agents, Christopher Hamer, to enrol non-member agencies into the scheme has had a high profile success after just two months with the news that leading London agency Foxtons has signed up.

When he took up his post on December 4, Mr. Hamer said one of his aims was to talk to non-member agencies in a bid to enlist the last third of agents who were not in the voluntary scheme, which operates under a recently-strengthened Government-endorsed Code of Practice.

And Foxtons founder Jon Hunt endorsed Hamer and the new look OEA, which now covers both sales and lettings, saying that the OEA provided the most appropriate redress scheme for the residential property industry.

“With Foxtons enjoying a substantial share of the London area residential property market, it made sense to get the company enrolled as a priority,” said Mr. Hamer.

“Foxtons is very active in both sales and lettings and since the OEA broadened its scope last summer to take lettings under its umbrella Foxtons became an even more logical target for membership.”

Foxtons’ founder and chief executive, Jon Hunt, said: “By joining the Ombudsman scheme we will be able to build upon our own complaints procedure, which has always been robust, consistent and fair.

“We were particularly impressed by the way in which the new Code of Practice introduced by the OEA provides a more comprehensive and common sense approach to redress, and the manner in which new Ombudsman Christopher Hamer is seeking to introduce it. “

Mr Hamer continued: “With an increasing number of residential estate agents joining the OEA, there really is no reason any longer for the public to use non-members.

“There are usually several members on every High Street and working under our Code of Practice, which is endorsed by the Office of Fair Trading, ensures agents operate to the highest professional standards.”

Mr Hunt added: “It is our clients and customers – vendors, buyers, letters and tenants – who will benefit from the additional security that recourse to independent redress offers.

“The time has now come for every estate agent not part of the scheme to have a fresh look at the new Code and join up to the OEA.

“We believe that redress should be applied consistently and that the OEA, under new leadership and with a more complete Code of Practice, is the most appropriate organisation to do this.”