Consumer trust in estate agents declines

Consumer trust in estate agents has declined over the past year, new research claims.

The latest Veracity Index from Ipsos Mori, which tracks trust in particular professions, shows the public view of agents has declined.

Agents, yet again, rank among the five least-trusted professions alongside politicians, advertising executives, government ministers and journalists. 

Just 28% of respondents said they trust agents.

That is down by four percentage points since 2021.

In some good news, agents still rank above government ministers, advertising executives and politicians in general, who came bottom of the list when it comes to trust.

Trust in journalists increased by one percentage point to 29%.

The most trusted professions were nurses, engineers and doctors.

However, of the three, only engineers saw an increase in trust among consumers with nurses and doctors experiencing a 5% and 6% decline respectively.

Mike Clemence, a researcher at Ipsos Trends & Foresight, said: “This year we have seen public trust drop gently across a wide range of professions. 

“The biggest drop is in trust in politicians, which has fallen to levels last seen during the 2009 expenses crisis.

“However we have also seen small but noticeable falls for high-trust professions including doctors, nurses, teachers and curators, as well as trust in the average person in the street.”