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Friday 19th February 2010
Estate agency probe 'disappoints'
Satisfaction with estate agents has improved, a study has found, but a trade body says an opportunity to regulate the sector has been missed.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given a largely clean bill of health to estate agents after a year-long study into standards in the industry.
However, it found a third of sellers were unhappy with their agents' fees.
An estate agents' body criticised the report for failing to suggest "robust" protection for buyers and sellers.
The OFT's report found that:
• most buyers and sellers are satisfied with their estate agent's service
• price competition among estate agents is still weak
• haggling over commission rates could save a buyer £800 when selling a £200,000 home
• existing laws on estate agency make it hard for competitors to use the internet to set up business and drive down prices.
Trevor Kent - a former president of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) - said that the OFT should have introduced minimum standards of competence for those running an estate agency business.
"A poodle clipper today can be an estate agent tomorrow," he said.
The current chief executive of the NAEA, Peter Bolton King, also criticised the lack of regulation.
"Once again the OFT has categorically failed to see that better regulation of the home buying and selling market is required," he said.
"Buying a home is often the largest single transaction of a person's life and it is disappointing that the OFT has not thought it appropriate to acknowledge that a robust and appropriate level of consumer protection is needed."
Source: BBC News