The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) call for evidence was issued to gather insight that will inform a long-term strategy for the professions, trades, and occupations that work with the built environment. The strategy will apply primarily to England, although the UK Government also sought information about cross-border relationships, acknowledging that many businesses, professional bodies, and supply chains operate across the UK.
Propertymark will continue working with MHCLG and our members as the strategy is developed. A successful approach must connect the standards expected of everyone involved in constructing, selling, letting, managing, and maintaining property.
Why is a new strategy needed?
The work follows the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and other reviews dating back to the 1940's, that have identified the same long-standing weaknesses in competence, professional standards, and accountability across the built environment.
The call for evidence covered the whole lifecycle of a building, from pre-design through to occupation and maintenance, asking how education, training, competence frameworks, regulation, and oversight influence the quality of work. It also explored how decisions made at one stage can affect safety, quality, and performance later.
MHCLG intends to publish the overarching strategy in spring 2027 and consult on its final proposals at that stage.
Property agents depend on high professional standards
Agents rely on surveyors, engineers, contractors, and other specialists when preparing homes for sale, arranging repairs, and managing blocks of flats. Any new standards must help agents identify when specialist work is required and give them confidence that it will be completed correctly.
This is particularly important during the occupation and maintenance stage. Agents are often the first point of contact when a tenant, landlord, or leaseholder reports a problem, and are responsible for assessing the available information, deciding whether a specialist is needed, and arranging appropriate action. Better standards should make this process more reliable while reducing unnecessary callouts where little or no work is required.
Qualifications and expectations must be aligned
The home buying and selling reform roadmap includes a non-statutory Code of Practice for property agents and a future consultation on mandatory qualifications for estate and letting agents. MHCLG has also consulted on qualifications for managing agents in the leasehold sector. We support higher and more consistent professional standards, but changes affecting different parts of the housing and built environment sectors must work together.
As property agents become more qualified and accountable, consumers will expect them to respond promptly to maintenance problems and explain how work has been arranged. The professionals and contractors carrying out that work must be held to compatible standards.
A joined-up approach would help agents and built environment professionals work together more effectively and ensure that buildings are properly maintained.
Better-prepared properties could reduce delays
Under the home buying and selling reforms, sellers and estate agents will be expected to provide more information before a property is listed. The longer-term roadmap includes mandatory sales packs containing searches and a property condition report. The built environment strategy can support this change in three main ways.
First, it should help improve the quality and consistency of newly built homes. We have asked MHCLG to consider how standards developed by the New Homes Quality Board could inform the strategy, including those covering build quality and the customer’s experience during and after a sale. Where developers sell homes directly, consumers should receive the same level of protection and professional service that would be expected when dealing with a qualified estate agent.
Second, the strategy should encourage sellers to prepare their property before marketing it. This could mean instructing surveyors, structural engineers, electrical engineers, or other specialists to identify and address problems at an early stage. Resolving issues before a property is listed can reduce the risk of a buyer discovering unexpected defects, delaying the transaction or withdrawing after costs have already been incurred.
Finally, improved record-keeping must be a central part of the strategy. Sales can be delayed when work has been completed, but the certificates, guarantees or details of the standard followed cannot be found. Clear requirements for creating, storing and transferring these records would help buyers understand what work has been carried out. It would also support the wider move towards digital property logbooks and upfront information.
Clearer standards would help agents and leaseholders
Managing agents and built environment professionals must increasingly demonstrate why work is needed, how much it should cost, and whether it represents value for money.
This is especially important in blocks of flats, where leasehold reforms are giving leaseholders stronger rights to obtain information and challenge service charges. Clear standards and better evidence would help managing agents explain the basis of maintenance decisions and give leaseholders greater confidence in the work being funded.
Effective enforcement is equally important. People who invest in qualifications, competence, and high standards should not be undercut by individuals or businesses delivering poor work without consequences.
Building safety remediation must remain a priority
The UK Government’s June 2026 remediation data estimated that between 1,400 and 2,800 buildings had yet to be assessed to identify relevant defects. A further 2,090 buildings had been identified with defects, but remediation work had not started.
Unresolved defects create risks for residents and can make homes extremely difficult to sell. The strategy should establish clear requirements for remediation, including who is responsible for acting. Firms and individuals must be held accountable where they fail to make buildings safe.
