Complaint have soared along with house prices

Complaints against estate agents have reached record levels, according to a new report.

Some 6,462 homebuyers and sellers were dissatisfied with the service they received from their estate agent in 2002 and complained to the industry Ombudsman.

The number of complaints received for Estate Agents (OEA) was 16.2% higher than for the previous record set back in 2001.

The majority of complaints from sellers involved disputes about fees and dissatisfaction with the agent's financial evaluation of a buyer's ability to purchase the property.

There were also doubts about the initial valuation of the property.

'Tip of iceberg'

Most complaints from the buyers' side were that sales literature inaccurately described the property or that their offer had been unfairly handled by the agent.

One dissatisfied purchaser bought a flat which had been advertised as having a garage but found on moving in that it did not have one.

Another claimed she should have been told the owner of the property she was buying was about to be convicted for murder, in this case the Ombudsman found in favour of the estate agent.

Clearly, Estate Agents deal with the vast majority of transactions professionally and efficiently Julie Westby, National Association of Estate Agents

The Ombudsman found in favour of the estate agent more often than it upheld the complaint from the buyer or seller.

But in just under a third of cases that were fully investigated, the Ombudsman was able to persuade the estate agent and the complainant to reach a negotiated settlement.

However, the complaints received may represent the tip of the iceberg following a period of unprecedented house price growth.

Membership of the Ombudsman scheme is voluntary and only 30% of all UK estate agents belong to it.

As a result, the service was only able to fully investigate a fraction of the total complaints it received.

Defence

It found that most were made against estate agents that were not members of the scheme.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), which represents the interests of 9,500 estate agents, said the Ombudsman had failed to put the increase in the context of a booming housing market.

Julie Westby, president NAEA, said: "Total complaints represented a tiny 0.4% of transactions in England and Wales last year. The number of complaints going against the Agent represented only 0.01% (one in 10,000) of all transactions.

"Clearly, Estate Agents deal with the vast majority of transactions professionally and efficiently."