A Matter of Trust

17th November 2006

T. Wyn Jones

My positive reaction to the recent announcement in the Queen’s Speech that legislation for tighter regulation of Estate Agents is planned by the government has surprised many of my acquaintances who are not directly involved in the property sector. The news of the changes has not come as a bolt out of the blue for those in the business of selling houses and throughout the year I have been reading newspaper reports heralding The Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill which will incorporate this legislation.

Headlines such as “High noon for cowboy agents” and “Estate agents forced to tell the truth, shock” do little to improve the public perception of the role of the Estate Agent and I welcome any opportunity to contest this often misguided opinion. In recent years agents been portrayed in the national press as slick talking and unscrupulous with polls taken on which professions people most trust invariably find the Estate Agent pretty well near the bottom of the list along with the Taxman and ‘John Wayne Plumbing Services’. This isn’t helped of course by fly on the wall television programmes and Whistleblower documentaries showing what could be considered the worst examples of the industry, but then the day to day life of the average Estate Agent would not figure high in the TV ratings.

So how do you find an agent you can trust? Look for an established agent who is a member of a recognised professional body and don’t be afraid to call into their offices as a prospective purchaser to gauge the quality of the service they offer, but most importantly ask around – the best form of advertising for any profession is word of mouth – if you offer a good service your clients will be happy to let others know.

Thankfully in this rural area in which I have the pleasure of living and working, the instances of bad estate agency practice are extremely rare, although not totally unheard of, and the requirements of the proposed legislation for Agents to keep records of their activities have long been day to day routine in our offices.