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It is one of the great anomalies of the property transaction that anyone can set up as an estate agent with little or no training, qualifications or experience.

This has resulted in a real lack of confidence from the public in agents because they could be dealing with an agent who had been a car or double glazing salesperson the week before.

Which is not to say there are not plenty of professional people working in UK estate agents, however the trust issue has had an impact.

At the very least, there should be two minimum requirements for estate agents.

First, all individual estate agents need to be licensed and I agree with the Carsberg review which has called for the regulation of agents.

Like mortgage intermediaries and IFAs, estate agents should be regulated by a body like the FSA and they should be individually authorised and approved.

There needs to be a clearly defined code of practice that agents have to follow which would go some way to ensuring each member of the public received minimum standards of service.

Second, there needs to be a professional qualification structure in place with a minimum exam to be taken and passed.

The exam should, at a minimum, be an equivalent level to the CeMAP qualifications advisers must currently sit.

These are the first two steps to putting agents on a similar level to the rest of the industry and would go some way to boosting consumer confidence in the sector.

Bob Young is managing director of CHL Mortgages