Committee publication · Correspondence · 25 March 2026

Letter from RICS to the Chair dated 12 March 2026 concerning Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill

From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Inquiry: Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill

Summary

RICS responds to its oral evidence session on pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. The letter details RICS' regulatory governance structure, independence safeguards, and invests £12 million annually in regulation. RICS supports the government's Designated Professional Body (DPB) model for managing agents, arguing it can deliver robust regulation while maintaining independence from regulated members and building public trust.

Key findings

RICS invests over £12 million per year in a transparent regulatory system with independence assured through a formal Regulatory Framework delegated to the Standards and Regulation Board (SRB), which has lay majority governance.
RICS' SRB is chaired by an independent chair with diverse regulatory expertise from statutory and non-statutory sectors; regulatory funding comes predominantly from specialist fees rather than member subscriptions, minimising capture risk.
RICS recognises limitations of non-statutory regulation and supports statutory enforcement mechanisms to enable robust regulatory action, particularly addressing unregulated managing agents.
RICS backs the proposed DPB model for managing agents, provided it includes Secretary of State accountability, clear independence criteria, effective statutory enforcement, resident involvement, and data-sharing capability.
RICS operates a public Regulatory Tribunal chaired by Alexandra Marks CBE with published outcomes; complainants can escalate to external independent reviewer Walter Merricks CBE to reinforce trust.

Tone

Supportive

Topics

leasehold-reformproperty-regulationprofessional-standardscommonholdhousing-policy

Key actors

RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), Florence Eshalomi MP, Lord Best, Nigel Clarke, Alexandra Marks CBE, Walter Merricks CBE, HM Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority

Notable line

“… good regulation gives confidence to an industry, builds trust and helps growth.”

Key Quotes

“RICS' Royal Charter prescribes our priority to act to the public advantage, a part of which is delivered through our professional standards and wider regulatory activities.”
— Nigel Clarke · explaining RICS' foundational regulatory mandate

“RICS invests more than £12 million per year in a transparent and robust regulatory system in which independence from regulated members is assured through a formal Regulatory Framework.”
— Nigel Clarke · detailing regulatory investment and independence structure

“We recognise the risk of regulatory capture and take appropriate steps to ensure there is rigour around the independence of our decision making.”
— Nigel Clarke · addressing safeguards against regulatory capture

“We recognise the limitations of non-statutory regulation where action to expel a firm can result in reduced protection for consumers because a firm can continue to work unregulated.”
— Nigel Clarke · supporting statutory enforcement for managing agents

“It is RICS' firm view, that the proposed Designated Professional Body 3 rics.org (DPB) model for managing agents can effectively and demonstrably deliver professionalised well-regulated property agency …”
— Nigel Clarke · endorsing the government's preferred regulatory model

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗