Who are UK Estate Agents?

Estate agents are persons or businesses that are involved in the selling, the renting, and the management of properties in the UK and Ireland. Estate agents who specialize in renting are called management or letting agents. Note that estate agents are mainly concerned with the marketing of properties that are on sale and it is the work of conveyancers and conveyancing solicitors to prepare legal documentation. This is however different in Scotland where many conveyancing solicitors also double up as estate agents. The term estate agent is the official title for the person responsible for managing privately owned properties that are under one ownership. These professionals also go by the names factors, bailiff, and stewards in different jurisdictions. In the U.S., the agent would be a real estate broker.

It is the job of an estate agent to know the properties that are on sale in his/her community and the amount the houses are going for. The agent will do CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) of the buildings to best guide clients (either buyers or sellers). Estate agents are regulated by the Office of Fair Trading or OFT. OFT’s website details what estate agents are and the regulations they have to follow. The regulation is based on the Estate Agents Act of 1979, the Property Misdescriptions Act of 1991 and the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act of 2007.

You should go for estate agents who are members of well-established professional/trade associations. These include NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) and RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). The agent will help you come up with a Home Information Pack (HIP), which is a legal requirement whenever you are selling a home. The letting of commercial property is between 7% and 10% in the first year and a sale is usually charged 1% of the sale price. For residential properties, estate agents will get between 2% and 3% of the sale price and VAT.