More than 5,000 current licensed Singapore real estate agents – more than 17 percent of the total registered agents – had failed to complete their four hours of mandatory professional development training as of mid-September.
Part of the licensing requirements, stipulated and governed by the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), requires that all current real estate agents have to undertake a minimum of four hours of approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training each year.
Real estate agents who had failed to complete the four credit hours of CPD training by yesterday’s deadline will not be able to renew their license for 2014.
Yeap Soon Teck, Deputy Director (Licensing), Council for Estate Agencies, in an email statement on Monday told PropertyGuru: "As the 2013 CPD cycle ended on September 30, 2013, estate agents would need time to compile their records for submission to CEA. We are unable to confirm the number of salespersons who have not completed the mandatory four CPD credit hours at this point in time."
"If salespersons did not complete the mandatory four credit hours by September 30 and have not furnished reasons for doing so, CEA will accept that they do not wish to renew their registration."
Yeak added that the CPD requirement is to ensure that Key Executive Officers (agency heads) and salespersons possess the necessary professional knowledge in estate agency work, and continuously upgrade themselves by keeping abreast of latest changes in Government policies and procedures for property transactions.
PropertyGuru understands that more than 75 percent of the more than 30,000 current licensed real estate agents in Singapore had already completed the required four hours of training prior to mid-September.
Image: Budding Singapore real estate agents undergoing training.
Clarification:
The Council for Estate Agencies has asked us to point out that we incorrectly stated that “all current real estate agents have to undertake a minimum of four hours of approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training each year.”
All Key Executive Officers, practising directors/partners and salespersons are required to complete six credit hours of CPD each year. The four CPD credit hours were only applicable for the 2013 CPD cycle as the cycle was shortened to nine months from 1 January to 30 September this year. This change enabled each CPD cycle to end in Sep and facilitate the licence and registration renewal/continuation exercise in Oct each year.
We regret the error and any confusion caused.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote
this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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