Member

The noble Baroness, Lady Warwick of Undercliffe, brought evidence from her role as chair of the Property Ombudsman—I preceded her as chair of the Property Ombudsman for some years—and that was compelling stuff. The people who deal with complaints at the Property Ombudsman say they desperately need, and support the need for, a regulator. I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Grender. She said that one needs knowledge and understanding of all aspects of all the many laws and complexities and that managing agents must be trained and have qualifications to perform these roles. She asked for a transition timetable, a timeline, so that we could see progress step by step, and I think that is an important suggestion. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, who supported the amendment. Local authorities are under pressure, and it relieves pressure if property agents do their job properly and do not require a lot of enforcement and time on the part of overcommitted local government officers.