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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (February 28):
Question:
Regarding the qualifying examinations and licensing of estate agents and salespersons, which fall within the purview of the Estate Agents Authority ("EAA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the current numbers of licensed estate agents and salespersons who have not completed Form 5 of secondary education or its equivalent; and
(b) since the introduction of the qualifying examinations for estate agents and salespersons, the respective numbers of persons who have passed the qualifying examinations but have so far not been granted the relevant licences because they fail to meet the academic requirements, and whether EAA will help them obtain the relevant licences?
Reply:
Madam President,
The licensing regime for the estate agency trade came into effect on January 1, 1999. Under the Estate Agents (Licensing) Regulation, one of the licensing requirements for estate agency practitioners is completion of Form 5 or attainment of an equivalent educational standard (licence applicants must also have passed the relevant qualifying examination within 12 months immediately before the date of application, be aged 18 or above, and be considered fit and proper to hold a licence). During the 3-year transition period from 1999 to 2001, a special arrangement was made for those who had practised estate agency work to be exempted from the educational qualification requirement.
My reply to the two-part question is as follows:
(a) As at 31 January 2007, there were 1,749 licensed estate agents and 823 licensed salespersons with an educational level below Form 5 standard. All of them are practitioners who were given exemption from the educational qualification requirement in the three-year transition period from 1999 to 2001.
(b) The numbers of applicants who passed the qualifying examination but were not granted licences as they did not meet the educational qualification requirement since the introduction of the qualifying examinations are given below :
Year Number Estate Agents
of applicants Salespersons
2002 13 28
2003 4 18
2004 9 57
2005 10 85
2006 18 81
2007 2 5
(as at
31.1.2007)
Note: The figures before 2002 are not available from Estate Agents Authority's computer records.
The Estate Agents Authority (EAA) must act in accordance with the law. Since the end of the transition period (December 31, 2001), the EAA has no power to grant licences to applicants who do not meet the statutory educational qualification requirement. The only exception is the renewal of the licences of those practitioners who were exempted from the educational qualification requirement during the transition period.
The EAA clearly informs prospective candidates for the qualifying examinations through various channels of the education qualification requirement. Those who do not possess the required qualification but opt to take the qualifying examination will have to attain the qualification through their own efforts within 12 months from the passing of the qualifying examination, or they will have to pass the qualifying examination again afterwards to be eligible for the issue of a licence.
Applicants who are unable to produce the original documents to certify completion of Form 5 or an equivalent educational standard may submit other supporting documents to the EAA for consideration. Alternatively, applicants may seek an assessment of their qualifications from the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation. The Council's assessment will be accepted by the EAA as proof of education attainment.
Ends/Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:38
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