The Federation of Estate Agents objects strongly to the headline and body of the report about the business breakfast on the White Paper regulating estate agents (March 11).

The coverage infers that the president of the Malta Developers’ Association had reservations about the course to be held for estate agents, which is a total misinterpretation of what was said, which, in spirit, inferred that having well-studied agents is fine but nothing can replace experience on the ground.

This is in line with the federation’s stance that a course should be accompanied by plenty of soft training (knowledge of inventory, selling skills, etc) which should be undertaken by the individual agencies themselves.

Editorial note: The coverage in question was a brief report of a two-hour long exchange of views so it was inevitable that not all points raised would be included. Nevertheless, the report noted prominently the views of both the MDA president and the Federation of Estate Agents that certification and education should be accompanied by practical training to ensure a holistic improvement in the sector.