All entities charging a fee for property deal sourcing and/or deal packaging services are deemed by law to be operating as an Estate Agent and therefore are required to be fully compliant with all laws and regulations applying to Estate Agency businesses.
It is our understanding that this includes anyone passing on any deals (including Rent to Rent) in return for any fee whatsoever, even if it is only a single deal and not an ongoing business. However as with anything to do with business regulations, qualifications and liabilities etc it is essential that you conduct your own due diligence before acting on any information given on this website.
Note that again, in our opinion, there is nothing preventing a fully compliant professional deal sourcer from paying a commission to non-compliant entities providing viable leads resulting in the sale of a deal, nor is there any limit to the size of that commission – once again – do your own due diligence, please!
The main requirements for a Deal Sourcing business to be compliant are:
- It must be registered with an appropriate, approved Property Redress Scheme which provides an official channel through which any complaints can be made.
- Since it will be dealing with individuals’ Personally Identifiable Data it must be registered with the Information Commissioners Office ICO
- It must be covered by appropriate Professional Indemnity Insurance
- It must be registered with an appropriate approved body for supervision under the Anti Money Laundering rules and regulations.
Documents relating to the current compliance status of BIAS Property Solutions can be viewed using these links:
Anti-Money Laundering Supervision; ICO Registration; Professional Indemnity Insurance; Property Redress Scheme Membership