Website boss accuses agents of charging “vast” fe...

The head of a For Sale By Owner website claims that some agents are making “vast amounts” of up to £7,000 in commission.

He says this is still the case despite the market in some areas being depressed by Brexit uncertainty and despite traditional agents apparently tempering their commission because of rival online and other fixed-fee competitors.

“Slower market conditions and a drop in buyer demand has not only impacted the asking price of the nation’s sellers, but estate agents have also had to readjust their expectations due to dwindling stock levels and competition from fixed fee agents” claims Paul Telford, founder and chief executive of private sales website OkayLah.

He says he has researched average commission earned by agents in different parts of England.

“This research demonstrates the vast amounts of money that some agents are still making due to the high cost of property in some areas of England, regardless of whether or not the buyer has taken the brunt of Brexit market uncertainty and lowered their asking price” says Telford.

Despite running a service which allows sellers to by-pass agents completely he then gives advice to vendors who choose to instruct property professionals, saying they should “shop around, negotiate on fee, and consider alternative options such as for sale by owner platforms or other fixed fee models.”

Telford’s research claims that across England, home sellers are paying £3,425 on average to sell a home, with the highest typical individual commission being in the Windsor and Maidenhead area - £6,941.

This is higher even than the all-London average of £6,804.

The figures are achieved by using a notional 1.42 per cent agency fee - OkayLah says this average comes from the property consultancy The Advisory and was quoted by Which? back in July last year. House sale prices are based on data from HM Land Registry covering the period from October 2017 to September 2018 inclusive.

To produce regional data OkayLah divided the total fees paid by the number of transactions to find the average fee for each region.

The FSBO site’s figures are below - they claim to show the highest average agency fees by county, the higher total fees paid, and regional breakdowns.

County data

Highest average fee per property
Region	Avg price	Fee*	Transactions**	Total sold value	Total fees paid	Avg fee per property
Windsor & Maidenhead	£488,820	1.42%	1778	£869,121,960	£12,341,532	£6,941
Surrey	£443,998	1.42%	17117	£7,599,913,766	£107,918,775	£6,305
Wokingham	£415,775	1.42%	2834	£1,178,306,350	£16,731,950	£5,904
Buckinghamshire	£404,915	1.42%	7857	£3,181,417,155	£45,176,124	£5,750
Hertfordshire	£401,094	1.42%	16068	£6,444,778,392	£91,515,853	£5,696
Brighton and Hove	£358,392	1.42%	3857	£1,382,317,944	£19,628,915	£5,089
Oxfordshire	£353,984	1.42%	10310	£3,649,575,040	£51,823,966	£5,027
West Berkshire	£351,090	1.42%	2231	£783,281,790	£11,122,601	£4,985
Bracknell Forest	£347,796	1.42%	1809	£629,162,964	£8,934,114	£4,939
Bath and North East Somerset	£336,521	1.42%	2918	£981,968,278	£13,943,950	£4,779
Highest total fees paid and highest total value of property sold
Region	Avg price	Fee*	Transactions**	Total value of properties sold	Total fees paid	Avg fee per property
Surrey	£443,998	1.42%	17117	£7,599,913,766	£107,918,775	£6,305
Essex	£310,554	1.42%	23946	£7,436,526,084	£105,598,670	£4,410
Kent	£290,175	1.42%	25233	£7,321,985,775	£103,972,198	£4,120
Hampshire	£314,002	1.42%	22611	£7,099,899,222	£100,818,569	£4,459
Greater Manchester	£165,146	1.42%	40654	£6,713,845,484	£95,336,606	£2,345
Hertfordshire	£401,094	1.42%	16068	£6,444,778,392	£91,515,853	£5,696
West Midlands	£178,300	1.42%	34524	£6,155,629,200	£87,409,935	£2,532
West Yorks	£154,117	1.42%	33874	£5,220,559,258	£74,131,941	£2,188
West Sussex	£322,412	1.42%	14640	£4,720,111,680	£67,025,586	£4,578
Devon	£252,547	1.42%	14838	£3,747,292,386	£53,211,552	£3,586
Highest number of property transactions
Region	Avg price	Fee*	Transactions**	Total value of properties sold	Total fees paid	Avg fee per property
Greater Manchester	£165,146	1.42%	40654	£6,713,845,484	£95,336,606	£2,345
West Midlands	£178,300	1.42%	34524	£6,155,629,200	£87,409,935	£2,532
West Yorks	£154,117	1.42%	33874	£5,220,559,258	£74,131,941	£2,188
Kent	£290,175	1.42%	25233	£7,321,985,775	£103,972,198	£4,120
Essex	£310,554	1.42%	23946	£7,436,526,084	£105,598,670	£4,410
Hampshire	£314,002	1.42%	22611	£7,099,899,222	£100,818,569	£4,459
Lancashire	£142,328	1.42%	20005	£2,847,271,640	£40,431,257	£2,021
Surrey	£443,998	1.42%	17117	£7,599,913,766	£107,918,775	£6,305
Hertfordshire	£401,094	1.42%	16068	£6,444,778,392	£91,515,853	£5,696
Norfolk	£222,819	1.42%	15937	£3,551,066,403	£50,425,143	£3,164

Regional data

Region	Avg price	Fee*	Transactions**	Total value of properties sold	Total fees paid	Avg fee per property
London	£479,137	1.42%	87116	£41,740,498,892	£592,715,084	£6,804
South East	£322,864	1.42%	142007	£45,848,948,048	£651,055,062	£4,585
East	£289,386	1.42%	97424	£28,193,141,664	£400,342,612	£4,109
South West	£252,717	1.42%	99090	£25,041,727,530	£355,592,531	£3,589
West Midlands	£192,303	1.42%	83866	£16,127,683,398	£229,013,104	£2,731
East Midlands	£187,670	1.42%	78645	£14,759,307,150	£209,582,162	£2,665
North West	£159,231	1.42%	112205	£17,866,514,355	£253,704,504	£2,261
Yorks & Humber	£159,079	1.42%	83582	£13,296,140,978	£188,805,202	£2,259
North East	£128,438	1.42%	38814	£4,985,192,532	£70,789,734	£1,824
TOTAL	N/A	N/A	1040602	£239,332,388,246	£3,398,519,913	N/A
AVG	£217,224	1.42%	N/A	N/A	N/A	£3,425
* Average fee is 1.42% Inc. VAT says The Advisory. Quoted by WHICH? July 2018
** Last twelve months available from Land Registry (October 2017 to September 2018)