Through 2020 regulation, anyone working in real estate must be licensed to provide property services in Malta and Gozo. Yet, a large number remain unlicensed – and legally unenforced. RE/MAX Malta CEO Jeffrey Buttigieg highlights the need for a tougher take on industry-wide agent licensing.

According to the Real Estate Agents, Property Brokers and Property Consultants Act introduced in July 2020, everyone operating within Malta’s property market, from agents to branch managers, must now hold a licence.

Jeffrey Buttigieg

The new regulation states that all those not fully licensed by December 31, 2021, must stop all activity within the industry – and yet, as the CEO of RE/MAX Malta points out, many local agents today remain unlicensed. At the end of December, a legal notice (L.N. 497 of 2021) called ‘Declaration of Apprenticeship’ was released for new real estate agents and those agents who did not apply for a licence yet as a measure to provide more time to get their official badges.

“Implementation of licensing process remains incomplete”

“It is great that agent licensing in Malta has at last come to fruition, after those at the heart of the real estate market have campaigned so long for it,” Jeffrey Buttigieg, CEO of RE/MAX Malta, says. 

“However, it is not working as it should. Most of the heavyweights in the industry are compliant, but some smaller agencies are not and are effectively getting away with operating illegally. This is the moment that the authorities must clamp down on those not taking the new regulation seriously and continuing their activities unlicenced, through an official watchdog.” 

Without comprehensive enforcement by the authorities, unlicenced agents are able to offer real estate services that lack the professionalism and high standards that industry stalwarts have worked to prioritise in recent years, creating untold damage to customer confidence in the market and licensed agents’ hard-won reputation, Buttigieg notes.

“Around a third of agents in Malta and Gozo have applied for the licence thus far, leaving over a thousand without a licence and unable to operate. If they are cowboys, a lack of a licence may persuade them to leave real estate for good, which would benefit the industry overall in the long term. If they continue to practise, however, then this is illegal and requires enforcement – and if they remain unenforced, then the whole licensing system becomes untenable.

“Our bone of contention is mainly linked to the lack of accountability to the industry of the real estate proprietors, who have evidently ignored the law or did not take action until the last minute. They have now placed the authorities in a position where they had to make adjustments to the law to cater for their responsibility to the industry.”

According to the CEO, the Licensing Unit has been very helpful, professional and considerate to the needs of the industry. It is thought the current situation is also due to the lack of required manpower that has been created due to the agencies and agents that are panicking and are overwhelming the authority with requests and support issues.

“Implementation of the licensing process also currently remains incomplete. While an official letter was sent regarding the need for licensing to real estate professionals, licence numbers have not yet been issued and most are still operating in the dark,” Buttigieg says. 

“It has been difficult for the authorities to create the awareness or the required enforcement to ensure that all companies, big or small, take the plunge and get accredited through an institution providing the appropriate course. The issue comes when estate agents are not fully informed or are provided with incorrect information by their proprietors, continuing to operate without awareness of the consequences – which could be, at worst, a €20,000 fine.”

The lack of clarity and enforcement, coupled with a lack of initial consultation, also provides a major concern for agents who have invested thousands to develop a course to ensure compliance and accreditation in-line with the licence. 

“It is frustrating that the authorities did not seek early advice and ideas from all of the industry, yet it is the industry that must overcome the system’s future issues,” Buttigieg highlights. 

“Moving forward, a PR campaign led by the authorities to promote licensing and its benefits for both property professionals and the public is necessary to offer more education on the subject both in traditional media and in the digital sphere.”

Meanwhile, the CEO remarks that RE/MAX Malta continues to set an example in terms of licensing compliance, agent professionalism and pioneering a high-quality customer experience. 

“The task to implement this new process has been a huge undertaking, but through partnering with an accredited institution and our own training academy and HR department has helped us achieve compliance. Now, with proper enforcement, licensing can take Malta’s real estate industry onwards and upwards.”

For more details, visit https://remax-malta.com/