Complaints against estate agents 'surprisingly' high

Published 18th Mar 2009

The number of complaints against estate agents has remained "surprisingly" high despite a dramatic drop in housing market activity, the ombudsman for estate agents has said.

Sales activity in the housing market has plummeted by 60%, but disputes with estate agents involving property sales have only fallen by 3%, ombudsman Christopher Hamer said.

Hamer said he was surprised the number of disputes regarding sales of properties had not shrunk more significantly given the slowdown in the housing market. "Perhaps it shows that buyers and sellers have still higher expectations of agents' service while there are so few properties being sold."

Hamer received 1,034 new complaints in 2008, 743 for sales and 300 for lettings, an increase of 20% compared with 2007, but 78% more than in 2006. The majority of cases, 65%, were upheld and awards paid to complainants by agents came to a total of £385,000, although most were between £100 and £499.

Last year saw the ombudsman make the biggest ever award to a complainant when he ordered an estate agent to pay £23,880 to a customer after staff offered conflicting advice and "failed to act in the best interest of the client or negotiate effectively". The first £1,000 of the award was to cover stress resulting for the agent's errors, while the rest was to cover financial losses.

Lettings

Meanwhile, the number of complaints against estate agents relating to residential lettings is soaring as more people decide to let their homes rather than sell. Hamer saw a 200% rise in disputes last year, and said the lettings market was likely to make up the majority of his workload in 2009.

The Association of Residential Lettings Agents (Arla) said yesterday it was concerned by the number of agents offering a lettings service due to the property slump. A survey of its members showed that 76% said estate agents in their area had moved into lettings.

Ian Potter, operations manager at Arla, said he was concerned many agents were not being properly regulated and did not meet the standards required for lettings agents.

"In order to make the transition from an estate agent to a lettings agent, they need to have studied more than a hundred different pieces of legislation and pass minimum competency tests to ensure their ability to advise clients to the required standards," he said.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said: "We would always advise consumers to use qualified and regulated agents, because that way they can have confidence in their transaction.

"I can understand why estate agents, or unregulated start-up agents, have appeared in the lettings market after a tough year, but they could get themselves and their clients into trouble if they aren't completely aware of the relevant legislation," he added.

Source: ' Guardian '

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