The tripartite standard seeks to protect the interests of regional real estate brokers
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On the 28th of November the real estate company PropNex Realty announced a new Tripartite Standard on Co-broking and Grievance Handling.
The three-part standard is designed to protect the welfare of and enhance professionalism in the local real estate industry. It also provides a forum for agents to discuss issues and protect their business interests.
This framework is formally approved by Singapore’s Industry and Services Employees Union (SISEU) and the announcement was attended by Desmond Tan, deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Minister of State at the Office of the Prime Minister.
One of the major challenges facing realtors is absence of standard co-broking practices, and how they interact with their fellow agents.
PropNex has cited an internal survey of 1,000 participants between June 20 and July 15 The survey revealed that 93% people “faced problems in obtaining viewing slots for tenants or buyers”. In addition the majority of respondents (87%) said that they% stated that they “want the minimum commission sharing to be that is enforced by the firm (PropNex)”.
“One of the main problems that has been addressed by salespeople in the field is the need for a fair procedure for co-broking in the market. Salespeople, particularly those working within the renting market have discussed the difficulties they face when trying to work with other salespeople to secure listings of their clients,” states Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex Realty.
He says that this is why it’s important that the agency establish the standard for co-broking at the company level to “protect our salespeople as well as consumers over the long term”.
In the event of conflicts between agents occur in the event of disputes between agents, it is recommended that the Tripartite Standard on Grievance Handling is an independent settlement arena. It will be overseen by the Real Estate Chapter of SISEU.
“I am pleased to see that PropNex will adopt the Tripartite Standards on Grievance Handling and establishing the guidelines for how disputes are handled and solved, and providing guidelines for commissions for co-broking,” says Minister Tan.