Agent webinars - your chance to ask Rightmove anything

Agents will be able to grill Rightmove’s legal and compliance director David Cox this morning as part of the portal’s webinar series this month. 

April’s News Hour today at 10am will focus on answering the legislation questions that matter most to agents.

On registering for the webinar, agents can submit a question for David, and there will also be the opportunity to ask questions live in the webinar. 

It is good timing after legal expert David Smith claimed yesterday that leaving "sold subject to contract (SSTC)" properties on portals may be a criminal offence under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).

He suggests this practice could go against regulations that warn against misleading actions and those that distort consumer behaviour. 

Smith says: “Advertising a property as being available but then telling callers that they cannot view it because it is SSTC is a classic example of bait and switch.

“I hope that this is not something that is happening. The CPRs are created for a reason and are abused by some of the very worst traders in the property sector and the marketplace generally.

"This is the nicer end of the some of the appalling scams perpetrated during lockdown where tenants were told they had to pay holding deposits before viewing properties which turned out to be total fakes. They are legally-speaking on the same continuum and, morally-speaking, not so very far removed either.”

The Rightmove webinars continue tomorrow, when Daryl Mcintosh, policy manager at Propertymark, is returning to provide a legal and compliance update for Scotland. 

Daryl will be discussing the Scottish Government’s proposed Rented Sector Strategy and implementation of rent controls, and the effect the material information announcement from National Trading Standards will have on agents, amongst other topics. 

Property law expert Smith returns on Wednesday 13 April as part of his series of webinars helping agents to prepare for the Renting Homes (Wales) Act coming into force in July.  

On Wednesday 20 April, Theresa Wallace, Director at Savills and chair of The Lettings Industry Council, joins for a webinar on cladding. 

Cladding is now considered material information under Consumer Protection Regulations (CPR’s).  

Theresa leads the working group industry meetings to discuss how agents should be dealing with cladding in terms of CPR’s and health and safety responsibilities. 

Rightmove will also be joined on Tuesday 26 April by Peter Ambrose, managing director of The Partnership, to discuss sales progression and reducing fall-throughs. 

Peter will be discussing the most common reasons why deals fall through, how to spot problems before they arise, where insurance can and can’t be used, and how to reduce the likelihood of unwanted surprises for buyers. 

Lisa Gray, Rightmove’s webinar manager, says: “We’re committed to continuing our industry leading education for agents, helping them to remain on top of changes to legislation and be successful in their markets.” 

Agents on Rightmove can join the Rightmove hub and sign up for upcoming webinars, or view previous webinars, by visiting https://hub.rightmove.co.uk/.