”Bad apple” estate agents must go, says industry insider

Monday 01 November 2021

There are “bad apples” in the estate agency industry who should not be in business, according to one director of a long-standing company.

Nigel Hurst of Broadlands called for the formal registration of estate agents, and a local qualification, when he appeared before a Scrutiny Panel on Friday.

A director of the company, which was founded in 1972 and is one of the largest agencies in Jersey, Mr Hurst said there was “bad practices” in the industry and he hoped that better training and oversight would hopefully cut that down.

Mr Hurst was addressing the Economic and International Affairs Panel, which is carry out a review to find out if Jersey estate agents should be regulated.

For Mr Hurst, the firm answer was “yes”.

Pictured: Mr Hurst is a director at Broadlands in Library Place.

“There are bad practices out there,” he said. “It is very easy to start up as an estate agent over here and advise people on their largest asset when you have little or no experience. 

“Some of us have been doing this for a very long time and we are continuing to come across evidence of bad practice.

“You can be selling in a shop one day and then decide to set up an estate agency the next, and they pop up left, right and centre.

“If you put a survey out there, I think you’d find quite a lot of disgruntled people have been treated unfairly or badly by various agents.”

Asked what form this malpractice took, Mr Hurst said: “There are instances where the agent has promised something, saying, ‘That belongs to the property,' or ‘Don’t worry about that.'

“Then two weeks down the line, when lawyer’s fees have started, it’s found out to be a load of nonsense, or someone has been ill-advised, and that can cost them money.

“Nobody’s perfect but there have been incidents in recent years of bad practice and it’s not fair on the public. Everyone else has been regulated - financial advisers, lenders etc - but one can go out there and become an estate agent overnight.”

Mr Hurst said he would support the establishment of a Jersey-focused qualification, a code of conduct and the setting up of a malpractice panel.

Pictured: Only 25%-30% of estate agents in the island are members of the Jersey Estate Agents’ Association.

He added that he didn’t know why such a small number of agents - 25% to 30% of the roughly 50 firms in the industry - were members of the Jersey Estate Agents’ Association, which provides support, advice and training to its members.

He said: “We would hope that with training, a qualification and a code of conduct, we would cut the malpractice down.

“If that was introduced, hopefully a few agents would fall out of the market…the bad apples.”

The comments echoed those of Broadlands' Chief Executive, Roger Trower, who made a written submission to the Scrutiny panel, who were also investigating the issue of 'gazumping'.

On this, he said: "‘Gazumping’ is a very inflammatory word that is mostly completely misunderstood by the general public with regard to property transactions. An estate agent should be acting for their clients (the vendor in most cases) and ensure they get the best price for their property. Once an offer has been accepted and the legal process starts we have done our job. If another prospective purchaser comes along and offers over the previously accepted price we as agents are duty bound to let our clients know the situation.

"It then comes down to the morals and greed of the vendor: whether to stick with their agreed buyer or change purchaser for more money!! I know of no way of legislating against a person’s greed! The housing market is now completely different from 2018, with a lack of stock, cheap mortgage finance and a high number of potential purchasers. In some cases property is making more than the asking price and the agent’s job is particularly important in ensuring that all parties concerned are aware of the facts."

One anonymous contributor wrote to the panel: “You asked for feedback on estate agents. My experience was literally shocking... lied and cheated us out of thousands of pounds... and now sells high end property to incoming wealthy clientele... via invites from Locate Jersey.”

Another anonymous contributor wrote: “The housing market is grossly overpriced mainly because estates agents have been very keen to make even more money on property sales.

“My understanding is they can charge whatever they want and indeed they do, most charge 2%, so on a typical house sale of £1m they make £20,000 or £500k they make £10,000.

“They make more than the lawyers and conveyances put together. In many, if not all cases there is no more than a few house work, so this works out to £2,000 or £4,000 per hour.”

The panel will publish its recommendations after receiving verbal and written submissions. The panel said it hoped to hear the views of more estate agents.