10/06/2026
CLASS IS IN SESSION: Who Exactly is an Estate Agent?
When admin was growing up, her definition of an "agent" was simple.
It was the neighborhood uncle who sat under the community tree every day. He was like a living newspaper. If you needed to know who got married, who had passed on, who had moved, or who had chased their wife away, he was your go-to person.
That uncle’s main job was sitting under the tree with two or three of his friends. Together, they were basically the community tabloid. But because he knew everyone, including the landlords in the area, he naturally became the person people approached when they were looking for a house.
In time, our dear uncle became "the agent", and he earned his livelihood from it.
However, without undermining our Uncle's efforts, the Estate Agents Act No.21 of 2000 gives us a more precise and professional definition.
Under Section 2(2) of the Act, it stipulates:
_"For the purpose of this Act, to practice or carry on business as an estate agent means, subject to subsection (3), to do for payment or reward any of the following acts:
a. Bringing together or taking steps to bring together the parties to a sale or lease; or
b. Negotiating the terms of a sale or lease or a proposed sale or lease,
in the course of business in connection with immovable property belonging to another person."
The definition is clear. An estate agent is anyone who, for payment or reward, links buyers/sellers or landlords/tenants, or negotiates those transactions involving property that does not belong to them.
Registration, Membership and Practice: The Key Distinction
While the definition is broad, the Act restricts who can legally practice. Only people who are licensed by the Zambia Institute of Estate Agents (ZIEA) are permitted to act as estate agents.
So yes, our uncle under the tree may have had the connections and the "tabloid" skills. But under the law, to practice professionally and lawfully, one must be registered, trained, and licensed by ZIEA.
Next time you meet uncle, ask him to contact us for steps on how he can acquire his license and practice proudly.
That is the difference between a community informant and a professional estate agent.
Class adjourned!
