There’s a lot of speculation around the new Property Practitioners Act and subsequent Regulations from everyone in the industry. The most common questions we get are about training of agents and how this will change under the new regulations.

At this stage, the new requirements are very much “up in the air” with additional instructions expected from the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) over the course of the year.

*Note that both LOGBOOK and the NQF4 REAL ESTATE COURSE (as we know it) will be discontinued under the new regulations.

These new regulations will not apply to current full status agents or current intern estate agents who had a valid FFC prior to 1 Feb 2022. However, it will take time for the relevant professional bodies to create and implement the new estate agent courses. As such, the PPRA may bring in transitional provisions for the phasing in of some or all of the new training requirements under the new Act.

In other words, business as usual until further notice!

Property Practitioners Act – No 22 of 2019

The Act itself doesn’t stipulate much with respect to training, however it does outline the reasons for change which are essential for leaders in the industry to understand. The Act basically covers the following general topics:

• definition of who the act regulates – all property practitioners (which covers estate agents, property portfolio managers, estate managers, “bond brokers”, and providers of bridging finance among others);
• continuation of the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) as the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA);
• continuation of the Estate Agents Fidelity Fund as the Property Practitioners Fidelity Fund;
• rules for appointment of board members, the CEO and other staff members of the PPRA;
• transformation of the property practitioners sector (which focuses on increasing B-BBEE candidates in the sector and removing previous barriers to entry, such as rigid training requirements);
• establishment of the transformation fund and research centre (aiming to promote Black owned firms and Principals, assist B-BBEE candidates with training and create awareness of the profession);
• focus on consumer protection (mandatory disclosure, agreements, education/public awareness of consumer rights and a property practitioner’s duty of care to both buyers and sellers); and
• repeal of the Estate Agency Affairs Act, 1976.

Property Practitioners Regulations - 2022

The new registration status levels under the PPRA are as follows:

1. Candidate Property Practitioner; registered with the PPRA, but can only act with certain restrictions applied;
2. Non Principal Property Practitioner or Property Practitioner;
3. Principal Property Practitioner; business owner and/or manager of a property practitioner business.

The PPRA will require the following for agents to become fully qualified:

• Professional Designation Exam (PDE)

  • The PDE can be sat by anyone at any time (technically a prospective agent can now sit the PDE4 prior to registering with the PPRA or an agency)
  • It will be scheduled at least 4 times per year
  • As soon as an agent is registered with the PPRA and acting as a candidate property practitioner, they will have 180 days to sit and pass the PDE4 (where there will be at least two exams during that time)
  • If a candidate property practitioner fails to pass the PDE within the 180-day period they may apply to the PPRA for an additional 180 days on good cause shown
  • Candidates can request for the exam to be written in all official South African languages or taken orally

• 6-Module Industry-Specific Practical Course

  • Maximum time of 6 months to complete
  • Course content yet to be developed by leading industry bodies
  • Will need to be reviewed and approved by the PPRA

• 6-month Probation period

  • Once a candidate property practitioner passes the PDE4, they have a further 6-month “probation period” where they must still act under supervision of a qualified property practitioner

• Continued Professional Development

  • All property practitioners must undergo and meet requirements of continued professional development (CPD) training to maintain their registration;
  • CPD is to be completed on a 3-year rolling cycle with 4 training modules per year
  • PPRA will approve any business or independent training organization providing CPD (each module must be pre-approved by the PPRA)
  • PPRA will charge PPs R1,500 per annum for CPD, unless they enlist the help of an independent training provider, of which they’ll be charged R500 per annum

Phoenix Group - Estate Agent Courses Johannesburg 

As always, the Phoenix/Van Deventers team will review any updates brought out by the PPRA and adapt our training courses to suit the needs of our supporting agents and agencies within the industry. We will endeavor to continue our Logbook, NQF4 Real Estate and PDE4 Prep courses until the new requirements are released, and will adapt these courses as and when required by the PPRA.

We look forward to assisting property practitioners with a more streamlined, industry-specific and practical approach to training. 

Follow this link to register for upcoming training sessions.