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 Property industry regulator the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT) is to have its funding doubled to nearly £500,000 a year.

The announcement from the Ministry of House, Communities and Local Government (who fund the NTSEAT), was made at midnight.  It came after NTSEAT revealed that last year (2017/2018) its caseload increased to 459 complaints from 246 the previous year.  NTSEAT issued 16 prohibition orders last year, compared with 12 in 201617 and had 53 cases under investigation as the end of April.

The new money will go towards more staff, as NTSEAT is given additional responsibilities.  One is the new-build sector and the other will be policing the upfront disclosure of referral fees by agents.

Housing minister Heather Wheeler said that NTSEAT will concentrate on 3 focus areas:

- Rooting out 'rogue agents' giving the regulator the tools to step up its enforcement action and giving them the ability to issue more banning orders.

- Making fees more transparent - enabling the regulator to enforce new expectations on estate agents to disclose referral fees upfront so consumers know exactly where their money is going when recommended services. and..

- Protecting new-build buyers - allowing the regulator to investigagte whether homebuyers are being provided with the right information and what could be done to improve the way new-build properties are sold.

Wheeler said "This extra funding is welcome and will aloow the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team to do more to tackle the estate agents who flout the rules."

This is the latest move by government to make the housing market work better for home buyers, with measures to professionalise the estate agent market announced last April, the official statement said.