The average estate agency fee across England and Wales is 1.53%, including VAT.
Research by comparison site GetAgent for Which? Money analysed over 40,000 branches listing properties on a ‘no sale, no fee’ basis in more than 2,400 areas.
The research found that the highest average fee was 3.07%, in the CT11 postcode of Ramsgate, Kent.
It is not an area familiar to EYE, but the comparison chart tells us that in the postcode there are 22 branches, total listings of 446 (mistakenly referred to as listings per agent), and an average listing price of £241,849. The fee would equate to £7,425 if this were the sold price.
In contrast, sellers in NE67, or Benthall in Northumberland, would typically pay a 0.85% fee. The chart says there are four branches covering the area, with four listings in total, and an average listing price of £326,000. The fee would equate to £2,771.
Which? Money advises: “If estate agent fees are too high in your area you might want to consider selling your home privately, through a property auction or through an online estate agent.”
There is a table of average estate agents’ fees by postcode on the Which? Money website.
https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/10/revealed-how-much-are-estate-agent-fees-in-your-local-area/
Comments (8)
“In contrast, sellers in NE67, or Benthall in Northumberland, would typically pay a 0.85% fee…”
Benthall is basically a street. I’ve lived and worked in the area all my life and I’d never heard of it until today.
There have been seven properties sold in Bentham since 1995 – two more than once, 10 sales in all. The last one sold over 2 years ago.
NOT the most realistic example for Which?/Get-A-Gent to use, then. But then realism isn’t their forte or their agenda, I guess.
“The chart says there are four branches covering the area, with four listings in total…”
No Agents* are located within 5 miles – but 8 are listed as within 10 miles of the street. None of those Agents have any current listings in Benthall.
I don’t need to sign up to anything to know which of those 8 are the four that subscribe to Get-A-Gent – they are the ones that sign up to anything in the hope of the tiniest of morsels hitting their already overbrimming trough.
*There is 1 “Agent” listed on Zoopla for the actual postcode. It’s YODA. Surprises there no, then.
I wonder how much it costs to be the only Agent on every street corner in the UK?
Just checked our area and according to their research, 1.82% is the average fee, whereas the reality is that all agents except ourselves are charging 1% + VAT (yes, that’s how most quote) or 1% including VAT. I’m sure ours isn’t the only area where the fees quoted are inaccurate?
Same here.
I KNOW every single agent in our postal code areas. I KNOW none of them are charging more than 1% + VAT for the larger ones and 1% inc. for the smaller independents.
Which? needs to be tackled on this. At no point in the article do they state that GetAgent takes 0.25% of the sale price plus VAT for referring the seller. By using the service the general public is reducing their ability to negotiate on the agents’ fee.
If you click through to the link it also says that: ‘Which? may receive a referral fee when a user requests an estate agents valuation through the GetAgent tool’
Which? is supposed to be a champion of consumer rights, a brand trusted by the public for their unbiased opinion but are they now taking referral fees from commercial enterprises?
I am getting fed up of third party providers taking a slice of my fee and stopped using GetAgent when they changed their business model (for the third time) from £50 per referral back to their original to 0.25% of any sale that completes.
Hi get agent. If you do research and it’s possible wrong, or makes your agents look bad… you pipe down!!
Which? Money advises: “If estate agent fees are too high in your area you might want to consider selling your home privately, through a property auction or through an online estate agent.”
Seriously?
If memory serves correct Get Agent charge agents for leads. So agents put fees up dealing with them. Public would probably get a better rate going direct to agents.
I second that. Our fees are increased on GetAgent as they charge 25% for the lead.