The Office of Fair Trading report into UK estate agency has found that haggling over rates is to be recommended; estate agency laws discourage Tesco-style online competition; competition is weaker than it should be (although it didn't find any examples of local price-fixing); and the majority of buyers and sellers are happy with the service they've received.
One would have thought that agents would be celebrating. Oh no. In response, Peter Bolton King of the National Association of Estate Agents is furious at the OFT for failing to take him and his profession to task; instead, sitting back and allowing every kind of shoddiness. Once again... a massive failure by the OFT.
The last word, however, must go to Trevor Kent, a former NAEA president: "A poodle clipper today can be an estate agent tomorrow," he said.
Actually, Mr Kent, it wouldn't take too much of a double-dip to find that the estate agents of today are actually the poodle clippers of tomorrow.
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