Petition for regulation follows BBC’s Panorama investigation
A former estate agent turned mortgage broker has urged industry colleagues to sign a petition calling for the estate agency business to be regulated, so that conditional selling cannot happen. The campaign by Emily Franks (pictured), director of Emily’s Mortgage Services, follows accusations of dubious sales tactics, made in a BBC Panorama programme broadcast this week.
Panorama’s undercover investigation presented evidence of what it suggested was bad practice, but Connells said it did not believe the allegations against its staff presented a full or fair representation of its operations. Purplebricks entirely rejected any portrayal of its service as pressure selling. The programme has prompted industry calls for changes in the way estate agents operate, particularly around so-called conditional selling, and Emily Franks has taken up the mantle with her petition, which has quickly attracted over 150 signatures, and is rising in number.
“As a broker in the UK, I encounter daily obstacles from estate agents who engage in practices that unfairly disadvantage both consumers and independent brokers,” she explained. “The current lack of regulation allows estate agents to engage in conditional selling, where they financially incentivise estate agents to sell their in-house services, which may not always align with the clients' best interests. This is not only damaging to the industry but also puts consumers at risk of making uninformed and potentially detrimental financial decisions. We need estate agents to be regulated the same way brokers, conveyancers and surveyors are.”
She continued: “Estate agents function as critical facilitators in the housing market. However, without stringent regulations, some exploit their position for profit, compromising the trust and security that clients expect in such significant transactions. The practice of conditional selling often leaves consumers with limited choices and pressures them into utilising specific brokers, potentially at a greater financial cost or with unfavourable terms.”
She continued: “According to a study by the National Association of Estate Agents, over 60% of homebuyers feel pressured to use services recommended by their estate agents. These numbers highlight a pressing need for governmental intervention to protect consumers. Moreover, other countries have already introduced legislation that supports transparency and fairness in real estate transactions. The UK must follow suit.”
Emily Franks’ petition calls upon the UK Government to implement regulations that ban practices like conditional selling among estate agents, ensuring transparency and fairness. Such measures, she believes, should compel estate agents to disclose any financial incentives related to their recommendations and encourage the use of independent brokers. “By doing so, we can restore faith in the real estate market and ensure that all parties involved are making well-informed decisions,” she said. “It’s been a problem for years and every now and then the spotlight comes back to it and then it gets swept under the rug again. No one else seemed to be actively taking action so I thought I’d have a go. We need to bring this to the Government’s attention in the hope of getting an industry regulator in place to ensure that there are clear rules and policy to follow for estate agents. Many out there are already doing it, but there are also many who are not, and they need to have consequences for their actions.”
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What did Panorama claim?
Panorama’s undercover reporter, got a job in one of Connells’ offices, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. During her six weeks there, she claimed to have found evidence that the senior branch manager favoured prospective buyers if they were planning to take Connells’ in-house services, like conveyancing or mortgages, because it made more money for the company. The programme alleged that Connells referred to buyers who had agreed to take out a mortgage or a conveyancing package through the company as ‘hot buyers’. In one case, the programme suggested Connells appeared to sideline a potential buyer for a £300,000-plus, three-bedroom house, possibly with a higher offer, in favour of someone else who had agreed to take out an in-house mortgage. That mortgage was said to be worth about £2,000 to Connells, while the company potentially stood to make £10,000 in total by arranging add-on services and selling the buyer's property too.
In a statement in response to the programme, Connells said it is committed to treating all customers and prospective buyers fairly. “We clearly explain how our services work and outline the choices available to clients,” it said. “We invest significant time and resources in training our teams to ensure they understand the laws, regulations, and guidelines within which they must operate. This includes regular training sessions and a programme of ‘mystery shopper’ quality assurance visits to each branch. Any employee found to be in breach of these standards faces strict disciplinary action, including dismissal.” It added: “It is not the case that customers who use our mortgage services are more likely to successfully purchase a property than those who do not.”
The programme also investigated Purplebricks, with a whistleblower alleging that staff were incentivised to get price reductions on properties - many of which, she was told by one of the company's local property agents, appeared to have been put on the market for more than they were worth. The whistleblower claimed that she was told that staff could earn commission if they persuaded sellers to drop their asking prices, and they were also under pressure to sell financial products like mortgages and conveyancing.
Purplebricks told Panorama that it doesn't overvalue properties and that while price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, that was no longer the case. It said it doesn't claim to be perfect and apologises wherever it has fallen short. It said it entirely rejected any portrayal of its service as pressure-selling, adding that it does not promote hard-selling and that it focuses on the benefits, not price, when recommending services. In a statement, it also said that since new owners took over in 2023, it had "worked hard to improve service and build a team and culture that puts customers first".
Emily Franks remains unconvinced. “I can’t fight this alone, and every broker has their own story about losing a case due to conditional selling,” she said. “The only way we get change is to fight together. I’m quite stubborn and I’m very passionate about my industry and the integrity of it so I’ll just keep going until we start seeing changes - or the rest of the industry stops supporting me.”
Her change.org petition can be found here.
