Parliament passed the Estate Agents Bill 2010* today, under which a new statutory board to regulate the real estate agency industry will be set up. To be called the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), this statutory board will be under the Ministry of National Development (MND) and is targeted to start operations on 22 October 2010.

Formation of CEA

CEA will take over the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore’s (IRAS’) current role in licensing estate agents, and implement a new regulatory framework for the real estate agency industry. Key elements of this framework include enhanced licensing conditions for estate agents, registration of salespersons, regulation on the conduct of estate agency work, mechanisms for discipline and dispute resolution, and public education (see Annex A).

Arrangements for Existing Estate Agents

CEA will accept applications for a licence to operate an estate agent from 1 November 2010. (IRAS will cease to accept applications for House Agent’s Licence on 30 September 2010.) Existing estate agents with a valid House Agent’s Licence issued by IRAS will be deemed licensed by CEA until 31 December 2010. They can apply to CEA for a new licence from 1November, before their current licence expires on 31 December.

Arrangements for Existing Salespersons

Salespersons are not regulated today. From 1 January 2011, they will need to be registered with CEA through their agents before they can do estate agency work. As part of the registration criteria, they will need to have minimum 4 GCE “O” Level passes or equivalent, pass a mandatory CEA examination for salespersons, and fulfill fit and proper criteria, which include not being an undischarged bankrupt and not having criminal records involving fraud or dishonesty. They will also need to attend a compulsory examination preparatory course before they can take the new CEA examination. The course, which will be available from November 2010, will be conducted by CEA-approved course providers.

To help existing salespersons transit to the new registration framework, existing salespersons who have passed an industry examination such as the Common Examination for House Agents, the Common Examination for Salespersons and the Certified Estate Agent Examination will not be required to take the new CEA examination for salespersons. Those who have not passed an industry examination will be given till 31 December 2010 to pass an industry examination or till 31 December 2011 to pass the new CEAexamination; provided they have completed at least 3 property transactions over the last 2 years prior to the formation of CEA. They will be allowed to work as salespersons in the interim. Estate agents are required to submit to CEA a list of their existing salespersons satisfying these conditions by 22 October 2010. The arrangements to help existing salespersons transit to the new regime are summarised at Annex B. The timeline for transition is presented at Annex C.

Licensing and Registration Fees

The licensing fees for estate agents will range from $300 to $3,000 per annum and are tiered according to the size of the agents. The annual registration fee for each salesperson is $230 (see Annex D for details).

MND has briefed industry players on the key changes and prepared them for the transition. We will continue to work closely with them to ensure a smooth transition to the new regulatory framework for the real estate agency industry.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT