Rightmove Certificates and Qualification for agents – helping you make your move

Are you getting ready to put your moving plans into action, or find a tenant for your rental property?

A good agent will share their expert knowledge on the properties that you want to view, and will really know the local area, including the types of homes that have been rented and sold recently, and any homes that will be listed for sale or to let in the near future.

If you’re selling your current home before you move, one of the first things you’ll want to do is find out how much your current home is worth.

An experienced local agent will provide you with an accurate valuation to help you set that all-important asking price. They’ll also help to ensure your move goes smoothly, from photographing your home for the sales listing, to guiding potential buyers around property viewings and helping to make sure the sale moves forward. And if you’re a landlord with a rental property, your agent can help you to find the best tenants for your home, quickly.

The importance of compliance and certification

As well as having expert local knowledge, all sales and lettings agents must comply with laws that protect home-movers from unfair sales and marketing practices and criminality. Agents with an in-depth awareness of ever-changing legislation and compliance issues can help to support and manage your move, or tenancy applications, which is why it’s so important to find an estate or lettings agent that really knows their stuff.

All estate and lettings agents must undertake certain mandatory training. There’s a wide range of legislation and regulation in place to protect you and your home moving journey, but the main ones are:

• The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (known as the “CPRs”)
  These regulations are enforced by Trading Standards and protect you against being missold, which is important as buying a property is often the largest purchase that people make in their lives.
  
• The General Data Protection Regulation (known as the “GDPR”)
  These regulations are enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and are designed to protect your personal information from misuse.
  
• Anti-Money Laundering regulations
  These are enforced by HMRC to protect your transaction against money laundering, which could have an impact on your property sale if suspicious activities were to occur.

To help support both the agents that use Rightmove, and in turn, the agents you may choose to work with, we’ve developed a range of certified training courses that meet the regulatory standards.

How do I know if my agent is Rightmove Certified?

Look out for these Rightmove Certified badges. Each badge informs you whether your chosen agent has completed their mandatory training, and if so, the estate or lettings agency is meeting its the staff training requirements for their regulated policies and procedures. If you need your agent to verify their training, they should be able to show you a certificate as proof of their training to back up the badge.

The Rightmove qualification

Not all agents choose to undertake a formal qualification because at the moment it isn’t a mandatory requirement for estate or lettings agents to be qualified in England.

Here at Rightmove, we’re committed to promoting industry best practice, to help make your home-move as professional and trouble-free as possible.

Our new qualification, the Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Lettings Agents (CELA), helps agents achieve the highest standards of professionalism and service, so you can feel supported when moving home.

The comprehensive training course is the equivalent of an A-Level. It covers every aspect of the housing market, from property sales and lettings, to legislation and codes of practice.

Agents that study CELA will have invested a lot of time to study all areas of the property industry, learning from leading industry experts.

How do I know if my agent is Rightmove Qualified?

When agents pass the final CELA exam, which is administrated by an independent examining body and regulated by Ofqual, they’re awarded a certificate as proof of their achievement and a badge to let you know they’re Rightmove Qualified.

Are you a sales or lettings agent looking to get qualified with Rightmove?

Find out more about the Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Lettings Agents (CELA).

Are you a sales or lettings agent looking to get certified with free training from Rightmove?

Find out more about the free training offered by Rightmove.