Property agents who are struggling with a mandatory industry examination will have another six months to prepare for the test.
This applies to agents with provisional licences who need to pass the Real Estate Salesperson (RES) examination to continue practising.
The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) said the deadline has been extended from December 31 this year to June 30, 2012.
The exam was introduced as part of new rules in January this year to raise the level of professionalism in the industry.
Agents who had not passed the exam could continue to work on a provisional basis but must pass the exam within a year.
Last week, Channel NewsAsia reported that some agents who have language difficulties are struggling to pass the English test and are worried about losing their licences.
Commenting on the deadline extension on Wednesday, CEA’s director of licensing and investigation, Purnima Shantilal, said the council is “mindful that some salespersons may need more time to pass the RES examination”.
She hopes the extension will help them to better prepare for it.
She added that CEA will also work with real estate companies to ensure that their agents take the exam by the deadline.
As at August 31, there were 2,753 agents on provisional licences.
They make up about 8 per cent of all registered real estate agents in Singapore.
From October 1 to November 15, CEA will also conduct its first year-end licensing renewal exercise for companies and update the list of agents.
Estate firms whose licences are not expiring this year need not apply for renewal.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 20 Sep 2011