The Estate Agents Authority (EAA) has mapped out a contingency plan to ensure agents could continue operations in the event of the processing and issue of conditional licences falling behind schedule. Conditional licences will be issued to property agents from January 1 next year as a transitional measure to allow them to sit and pass licensing examinations within three years. EAA licensing committee chairman Yeung Ka-sing said the authority would issue letters to applicants to confirm their applications for the licences were in the process if issue of conditional licences could not meet the January 1 schedule. 'Practitioners with the letters are allowed to perform their business until conditional licences are issued,' he said. 'We, of course, do not want to see such an emergency situation happen. 'EAA will try its best to achieve the target of issuing conditional licences to all qualified applicants on time.' He said the committee expected up to 16,000 agents would apply for the licences when it opened applications next week. The applications estimate was based on a survey in June and July when the property market was hit hard by the depressed economy, he said. 'We are not sure whether there will be more people who would like to enter the industry as the market has improved recently,' he said. The authority would have about 30 staff when in full operation, but would hire part-time staff to handle application if needed, he said. He said it was too early to say how long it would take to process conditional licences, but full co-operation has been secured from major real estate agencies and associations to speed up the process. Large agencies would submit applications for the licences in bulk and associations also had agree to screen applicants' information before sending it to the EAA, he said. 'It will shorten the time for processing with the industry's co-operation,' he said. He said the licensing system would be applied first to agents handling Hong Kong residential properties and then extended commercial properties and later to overseas properties marketed in Hong Kong. We are not sure whether there will be more people who would like to enter the industry
