The Investment Property Forum’s new self-regulation of ‘double-dipping’ has been welcomed by Nick Leslau, despite claiming more still needs to be done to monitor multiple-agency introductions.
The chief executive of the Prestbury Group’s comment came less than a month after new guidance aimed at restoring the ethics of investment agency community was published by the IPF.
Speaking at the last Movers and Shakers breakfast of the year at The Dorchester, W1, Leslau, said: “The regulation of double-dipping is very easy – all the principle has to do is say if you act for me on a sale you can’t act for me on the acquisition – and that’s that.”
But what is more complex is how best to monitor multiple-agency introductions, where the agent acts for several parties on the acquisition side despite them being in conflict with one another.
Leslau added: “The IPF has done a very good job with regulating double-dipping but multiple-agency introductions are rife and more still needs to be done.”
He has called for clients to “get tough” and demand that the agency is clear about whom they are acting for. “The sanction is the client saying ‘if you do that you’re fired’ and it’s up to us as principles to set the tone for the agents.”
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
