Estate agents are regulated by the Estate Agents Act 1979, which:

-  Regulates the conduct of estate agents in the course of estate agency work. It does not cover the letting of properties.

-  Lays down the duties that agents owe to clients - such as the passing on of offers, handling money and giving details of charges - and to third parties - such as disclosure of personal interest.

-  Gives the Office of Fair Trading the power to issue warning or prohibition notices against those persons whom it considers to be unfit to carry on estate agency work.

Estate agents also have to comply with the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991, which makes it an offence to make false or misleading statements about property offered for sale.

Further Information
The Ask Cedric website contains further information about requirements of the Estate Agents Act and the Property Misdescription Act.  You can access this information by using the external links opposite.