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SCMP Reporter

Big five agencies oppose plan for framework to classify staff standards and competencies

The Education and Manpower Bureau is considering a bold move to boost the standard of real estate agents in the industry, but  the agencies themselves think the plan is too strict.

The bureau intends to introduce a voluntary qualification framework which will classify staff standards and competency into seven levels. It aims to complement the current regime, which states that the minimum qualification requirement is Form Five.

'We are not trying to disrupt the existing regulatory mechanism but to upgrade the industry practitioners' quality,' said Rebecca Pun Ting-ting,  principal assistant secretary for Education and Manpower.

'Our plan is in response to the industry's requests. There is no qualified assurance for many vocational training programmes received by those below degree level.'

She said the plan could map out precise information on careers for estate agents.

However, the 'big five' real estate firms - the Property Agencies Association, Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association, Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents, Hong Kong Chamber of Professional Property Consultants and New Territories Estates Agency Association - were strongly against the bureau's proposal  because of double regulations and the overlapping role between it and the industry watchdog the Estate Agents Authority (EAA).

Cheung Tin-sung, chairman of the Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association, which represents 800 estate agencies, said: 'We are already busy dealing with the EAA's tightening requirements.

'Our burden could be heavier if we have to entertain the bureau's new framework as well.

'Do we need such high qualifications to be property agents? We don't need a PhD to become a property agent, do we? Trust is all that matters in our business.'

The chairman of the Property Agencies Association, Kwok Tak-leung,  agreed.

He said the bureau's proposal focused only on the positive side of lifelong learning but overlooked the negative impact that its proposal could hit smaller industry players.

'The proposed seven-tier system could have a labelling effect. Smaller players with fewer resources and time to train their agents to achieve all the seven levels will be perceived as low-quality players,' said Mr Kwok, whose organisation represents 220 agencies.

'This will make it more difficult for smaller players to survive.'

From gang fighting at new flat sales to dubious selling methods in pitching deals, the standard and quality of some of Hong Kong's property agents has been a concern for the public since the property boom in the 1990s.

The government set up the EAA in 1997 to better regulate the industry.

The EAA issues licences for agents using a two-tier system - to a company to operate a real estate agency and to sales staff to work for an agency.

Luk Shun-tim,  a member of the Estate Agents Authority, which regulates and licenses property consultants, said he was surprised by the government move.

'I do not see big problems with the existing licensing. The quality of our agents has been improving,' he said.

'Later this year, we are going to have a reformed qualifying examination, a more difficult one.

'We want to ensure those who pass our tests are top people,' Mr Luk said.

But non-affiliated legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip said: 'It seems the problem we have now is not that there are not enough examinations to qualify the property agents. It is that our agents are not acting professionally and our regulatory body is too lenient when punishing offenders.'

Industry players said the relatively low entry bar had led to a rising number of unemployed and bankrupt people choosing to join the industry because they saw the property market reviving.

According to the EAA, the number of licensees surged more than 20 per cent to 18,675 last year.

Of these, 13.6 per cent of sales staff and 28.4 per cent of agency-holders have tertiary education qualifications.

Midland Realty (Holdings) corporate managing director Kitty Ip Kit-yee  said it was high time to improve the often negative perception of the industry. She said Midland had hired more university graduates to boost the quality of its agents.

Legislator Li Kwok-ying,  who is also a board member of the EAA, said that there was no urgency to raise the qualification requirement for estate agents.

However, he said it would be worth considering criminalising some misconduct to give more teeth to the EAA and deter rule breakers.

Mr Cheung said there were bad people in every industry, and the existing rules in the property industry were not tough enough to deter rule breakers.

He said the regulator should strengthen integrity and conduct-related issues.

An EAA spokeswoman said the bureau had not yet seriously looked into its proposal.

'Our focus this year is continuous professional development,' she said, adding that the regulator would make its licensing examination more difficult, starting in July, to raise the entry bar for the industry.

Under the voluntary continuous professional development programme, estate agents will have to accumulate 10 credit points a year.



Bureau moves to raise standards