Back to the books for agents
The Ministry of Construction has announced the introduction of a separate law that will regulate the relationship between real-estate agents, real-estate managers and valuers. The bill, which is still in the preparatory stage, could come into force by the beginning of 2008, and means agents will have to have a real-estate license.
According to the proposed law, two types of licenses for real-estate agents will be introduced. The first one, designating a real-estate agent, will be granted to people who work under a real-estate broker's supervision. This broker must possess the second-level license. Those holding the agent's license will be able to work in a real-estate office but they will not be able to sign agreements and effectively close deals. All candidates for both licenses will be required to possess a university degree.
"These well-educated people will guarantee the further development of the real-estate market in Poland," said Piotr Styczeń, Deputy Minister of Construction.
The new law will meet the expectations of the Polish Real Estate Federation (PRFN), which is an organization that has 2,000 of the 6,168 real-estate agents in Poland among its members.
The only difference between the government's proposal and PRFN's idea, was that PFRN was pushing for the first license to be available to people who have high-school education and complete a special preparation course.
"The two-level licenses will improve the quality of work of real-estate agents," said Aleksander Scheller, the president of PRFN. "In the future, PRFN will also propose introducing a third level for the license, which could be obtained by a specialist with more knowledge of the economy, financing and real-estate investment." According to Scheller, such a system could attract more people into the real-estate profession, which needs more workers to cope with Poland's real-estate boom.
In the meantime, the Ministry announced an amendment to the current "economy of real estate" law, which regulates the profession. According to the Ministry, this will encourage better-qualified people to enter the industry, as candidates with a bachelor's degree and a postgraduate or specialist course organized by professional real-estate agent organizations, will be allowed to take the exam for the agent's license. Nowadays, only about 15 percent of candidates pass this exam. "Unfortunately, that percent shows how the current candidates are prepared for the exam," says Scheller.
According to PRFN, around 25,000 people work in the real-estate industry and 30,000 in the real-estate management field. It says 90,000 new employees will be needed in total by 2010.
