Estate Agents are far from loved in this country – you’ll be hard pushed to find to many people that speak highly of the agent they used.

The quality of estate agency service in this country is a concern and it has in the past prompted investigation.  In recent years there have been two major (Government initiated) studies into the problems of buying and selling in the UK:

>> Key Research On Easier Home Buying & Selling (ODPM)
>> Estate Agency Markets in England & Wales (OFT)

In particular, the Office of Fair Trading study highlighted serious concerns over the way Estate Agents serve the public.

Which? (the consumer group) has also conducted research.  They found evidence of serious violations of the law and a massive 50% of consumers voicing dissatisfaction over the service received from their Estate Agent.

Which? reported that “consumers entering the Home-buying or selling process are substantially disadvantaged by the way estate agents currently operate”

Most recently the BBC’s Whistleblower Documentary highlighted some of our estate agent’s shadier practices.

Bribery, fraud,deception?  All pretty damning and extremely worrying if you’re thinking about putting your house on the market with an estate agent.