Complaints upheld against high street estate agents have soared by 32% in the past year, according to the latest report from The Property Ombudsman (TPO).
Almost all of the complaints were resolved in favour of the complainant, resulting in record payouts for the consumer – the largest of which was over £16,000 for a lettings dispute.
Complaints Against High Street Estate Agents Soar by 32%
The Ombudsman, Katrine Sporle, warns high street estate agents of the importance of a good reputation.
She says: “Overall, this is good news for consumers and redress, but not so great for the reputation of agents, who collectively paid out over £800,000 in awards. My message for those agents is simple: Pay more attention to TPO’s Codes of Practice and raise your standards.”
Last week, TPO announced that it is updating its Codes of Practice for all those in the property industry: /property-ombudsman-updates-codes-practice/
However, the report does indicate that online and hybrid estate agents continue to wage war against their high street counterparts, with many, but not all, excelling in the customer service they provide.
One of the leading online agents in the sector, eMoov.co.uk, was voted the best in the country out of over 25,000 high street and online estate agents, based on the service it provides to customers.
The Founder and CEO of eMoov, Russell Quirk, says: “It’s almost becoming an estate agency tradition that every year, TPO releases its report on the industry, and every year, the poor practices of the high street sector in particular result in an increase in complaints on the previous year.
“The high street sector is struggling in the current industry environment to say the least, and, despite being squeezed for market share by online and hybrid agents, are only getting worse, rather than pivoting with the new age of estate agency and offering a better customer experience for a fairer price.”
He continues: “Luckily, the customer now has the choice and, thanks to websites such as TrustPilot and AllAgents, can separate the good from the bad, based on reviews from real customers. That’s why at eMoov, we concentrate on how we treat the customer, not the money we gain, and our TrustPilot rating of 9.5 and our rank as number one agent out of 25,800 via AllAgents is a testament to that.
“Despite this positive evolution in the industry, selling or buying a home can occasionally be an expensive and sometimes fraught experience. The Government must now really step in and introduce licensing for all estate agents, in order to regulate against the bad guys, of which there seems to be many.”
If you’re buying or selling a property, does this news put you off using a high street estate agent?