What is PEAS?

The Property Educators Accreditation Scheme (PEAS) is an initiative that has been born out of the need to address some major issues within the property education sector. Given the increasing number of tragic events that have occurred in this industry, a number of property educators and organisations were brought together by the Property Investors Bureau (PIB) to come up with a solution to help consumers identify the credible property educators from the less credible operators.

It was understood that due to the nature of property education organisations, it would be difficult for the government to enforce hard regulation of the industry. This is what led the PIB team to create the scheme. PEAS is a form of self-regulation meaning that it is not mandatory for property educators to become accredited. For this reason it is important to ensure that PEAS strikes a healthy balance between cooperation and enforcement.

At the heart of PEAS is a robust and transparent application process coupled with mechanisms to help consumers to easily access the information needed to help them make an informed decision about any property education company that they would like to purchase products and services from.

Objectives

• To help credible property educators differentiate themselves from less credible operators.
• To create greater transparency in the property education sector.
• To create greater protection for consumers planning to purchase property education.

What PEAS is not

• PEAS should not be solely relied on to assess the suitability of a property educator. You are always encouraged to carry out your own due diligence.
• PEAS cannot protect against future issues but can help you to make a more informed decision today.
• It is not within the remit of PEAS to pursue property educators who have proven not to be credible. It is the responsibility of PEAS to make it easier for credible operators to differentiate themselves.
• It is not the responsibility of PEAS to forensically research every claim made about a property educator. However, if full conclusive evidence is provided to PEAS on a matter relating to a member, the appropriate action will be taken.

Benefits for Consumers

• Confidence that all PEAS members have passed the rigorous application process.
• Trustworthy peer reviews on property educators.
• Transparent money back guarantees and terms and conditions.
• A property investment education search tool.
• Property education discounts to all PIB members.
• Confirmation that all PEAS members have subscribed to the PEAS Code of Practice.
• The ability to have disputes adjudicated by an unbiased third party through our partnership with the Property Redress Scheme.

Levels of Accreditation

There are two main types of PEAS accreditation – Associate (AssocPEAS) and Chartered (CPEAS).

Associate (PEAS)
Associate level is available on successful completion of the PEAS accreditation process. This level of membership does not require the applicant to own property or have previously invested in property. You can apply at any time but must meet one of the following criteria before applying:

• 2+ years of relevant property education experience

Member (MPEAS)
Member level is available on successful completion of the PEAS accreditation process. You can apply at any time but must meet one of the following criteria before applying:

• 2+ years of relevant property education experience
• 2+ years of property investment experience in the main education area that you would like to be accredited for.

Fellow (FPEAS)
Chartered level is available on successful completion of the FPEAS accreditation process. You can apply at any time but must meet both of the following criteria before applying:

• 7+ years of relevant property education experience
• 10+ years of property investment experience in the main education area that you want to be accredited for.

Benefits for Property Educators

Safeguarding
PEAS aims to steer regulatory affairs and public policy initiatives that promote self-regulation, best practice and industry standards. Membership provides the opportunity to steer conversations around guiding principles, while giving recognition to those who comply.

Advocacy
PEAS offers collaboration within industry-facing steering and advisory meetings to actively shape initiatives to create positive change within the property investment industry. Plus, there are opportunities to showcase your own research, thought leadership, and creative thinking via pibuk.org, events, workshops and more.

Brand Differentiation
You will benefit from your brand being recognised for quality and first-class property education as this will differentiate you from your competitors. Becoming part of PEAS will enable you to market your education services with our official logo and enables prospective clients to recognise that you have achieved the gold standard of property education.

Knowledge
PEAS is committed to demystifying a complex and ever-evolving industry. Membership will give access to research, FAQ’s, best practice guidelines & ‘how to’ bite-size content to demonstrate property investment best practices.

Increased Awareness
Your brand will be exposed to our entire membership in addition to our wider audience of property investors.

The process explained

• Day 1 – Complete the PEAS online application form.
• Day 2 to 14 – A PEAS representative will call you to carry out a phone interview.
• Day 14 to 28 – Your application is assessed internally.
• Day 28 to 182 – If your application is validated, you will automatically be entered into a six month probation period.
• Day 182 – At the end of the probation period, successful applicants will receive PEAS accreditation.

Find out more

Download the PEAS Code of Practice.

For more information call us on 01206 700 123 or email us at info@pibuk.org.