Category: estate agents

New Judgment: Barton and others v Morris and another in place of Gwyn-Jones (deceased) [2023] UKSC 3 – UKSC Blog

Posted January 26th, 2023 in contracts, estate agents, fees, news, sale of land, Supreme Court by sally

‘Foxpace Limited (“Foxpace”), the Fourth Respondent, owned a property known as Nash House in London. This appeal concerns an oral agreement between Foxpace and Mr Barton, the First Respondent, about Nash House. In the High Court it was held that Foxpace agreed to pay Mr Barton £1.2 million if he introduced a purchaser for Nash House who bought it for £6.5 million. The £1.2 million represented deposits and other expenses that Mr Barton had lost on two previous attempts to buy Nash House.’

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UKSC Blog, 25th January 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Research Briefing: Regulation of estate agents – House of Commons Library

Posted September 12th, 2022 in consultations, consumer protection, estate agents, housing, news, parliament by tracey

‘This briefing paper provides an outline of the current regulation of estate agents. It also looks at past market studies and consultations and considers in detail recent government proposals to tighten regulation.’

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House of Commons Library , 5th September 2022

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Disabled homeless man wins ‘no DSS’ case against estate agency – The Guardian

Posted September 10th, 2020 in benefits, disability discrimination, disabled persons, equality, estate agents, homelessness, housing, news by sally

‘A homeless father of four with disabilities who was refused the chance to rent a private flat because he fell foul of the estate agents’ “no DSS” rules was unlawfully discriminated against, a court has ruled.’

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The Guardian, 9th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Speeding up the property buying process – Legal Futures

Posted June 10th, 2020 in conveyancing, coronavirus, estate agents, housing, news by sally

‘Speeding up the process of property buying and selling has taken on new urgency following the conveyancing market meltdown due to Covid-19.’

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Legal Futures, 9th June 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Conveyancers “need not fear” home buying shake-up – Legal Futures

Posted October 30th, 2019 in conveyancing, documents, estate agents, housing, news, solicitors by sally

‘A “single source of truth” that contains all the information about a property before it goes on the market is in the works as part of plans to speed up the home buying and selling process, it has emerged.’

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Legal Futures, 30th October 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Case Comment: Wells v Devani [2019] UKSC 4 – UKSC Blog

Posted April 24th, 2019 in appeals, contracts, estate agents, housing, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘Robert Jones and Joseph Marsden, who work within the insurance and reinsurance group at CMS, comment on the decision handed down in the matter of Wells v Devani [2019] UKSC 4.’

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UKSC Blog, 24th April 2019

Source: ukscblog.com

Supreme Court upholds estate agent contract formed over telephone – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 20th, 2019 in agency, contracts, estate agents, fees, news, remuneration, telecommunications by sally

‘The UK Supreme Court has upheld a contract concluded between a property developer and an estate agent over the telephone, including a disputed element of commission for the agent.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th February 2019

Source: www.out-law.com

New Judgment: Wells v Devani [2019] UKSC 4 – UKSC Blog

Posted February 14th, 2019 in agency, contracts, estate agents, interpretation, news, sale of land, Supreme Court by sally

‘This appeal considered whether, where a commission agent and his principal have not expressly, in their oral discussions, identified and agreed the precise event upon which commission is payable, but have expressly agreed in those oral discussions that a commission would be payable at an agreed percentage, their bargain is incomplete. It also considered whether the court can (whether by taking into account the relevant surrounding factual matrix or what the parties said, or the parties’ conduct), imply a term identifying the commission entitling event which gives business efficacy to the parties’ presumed common intention.’

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UKSC Blog, 13th February 2019

Source: ukscblog.com

Forthcoming law (and informed consent) – Nearly Legal

Posted May 29th, 2018 in bills, estate agents, fees, housing, landlord & tenant, news by sally

‘The Tenant Fees Bill has had its second reading. The current Bill and its progress are here. There is a lot to digest in the Bill and I suspect there will be amendments on route. There are a whole new range of civil penalties, possible offences and restrictions on service of a section 21 forthcoming.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th May 2018

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Government to crack down on ‘rogue’ estate agents – BBC News

Posted April 9th, 2018 in consumer protection, estate agents, news by tracey

‘All estate agents will be required to hold a professional qualification under new government rules to crack down on “rogue” operators. Managing agents will also be forced to reveal the fees they receive for referrals to solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers.’

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BBC News, 8th April 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Government floats referral fee ban and acting for both sides in bid to improve home-buying process – Legal Futures

Posted October 23rd, 2017 in consultations, conveyancing, estate agents, fees, news, sale of land, solicitors by sally

‘A ban on estate agents charging solicitors referral fees along with loosening the restriction on conveyancers acting for both seller and buyer were suggested by the government yesterday as possible reforms to improve the home-buying process.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Purplebricks ‘surprised’ at new ASA ruling for misleading advert – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 19th, 2017 in advertising, complaints, estate agents, fees, misrepresentation, news by tracey

‘Online estate agent Purplebricks has said it is “surprised” the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against it for misleading viewers over its fee structure.’

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Daily Telegraph, 18th October 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

London Trading Standards issue £370k fines to letting agents in three months – Local Government Lawyer

Posted September 28th, 2017 in consumer protection, estate agents, fines, landlord & tenant, London, news by sally

‘Trading Standards departments in London have issued fines amounting to around £370,000 to lettings agents in the last three months alone, it has emerged.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 27th September 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

CMA fines estate agents cartel £370,000 for rate fixing – The Guardian

Posted September 19th, 2017 in competition, estate agents, news, price fixing by tracey

‘A group of estate agents who secretly conspired to keep their fees high to make “as much profit as possible” have been fined £370,000 for operating an illegal cartel.’

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The Guardian, 18th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Female estate agent guilty of sexism after she offered male colleague sex act to hit £180k target – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 2nd, 2017 in estate agents, news, sex discrimination by sally

‘A female estate agent has been found guilty of sex discrimination after she offered to perform a sex act on a male colleague if he banked £180,000 in income.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st June 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Tales of the private sector – Nearly Legal

Posted January 9th, 2017 in community service, costs, equality, estate agents, fines, harassment, health & safety, landlord & tenant, licensing, news, sex discrimination by sally

‘A collation of cases and stories from the private sector, and a series of reminders that a database of rogue landlords, and indeed banning orders, can’t come soon enough.’

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Nearly Legal, 8th January 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Littlewood v Powys County Council – WLR Daily

Posted July 30th, 2015 in estate agents, law reports, local government, regulations by sally

Littlewood v Powys County Council [2015] EWHC 2125 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 336

‘For the purposes of Schedule 2 to the Estate Agents Act 1979, where the making of an order under section 3 of the Act prohibiting an unfit person from acting as an estate agent had been delegated to an adjudicator, it was that adjudicator who personally had to hear oral representations from the person affected. The local authority’s proposed procedure whereby the adjudicator, who was the actual decision-maker, only received an audio recording and verbatim transcript of the proceedings before an investigator did not comply with the requirements of the 1979 Act and was unlawful.’

WLR Daily, 23rd July 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

RTA (Business Consultants) Ltd v Bracewell – WLR Daily

Posted March 17th, 2015 in contracts, enforcement, estate agents, illegality, law reports, regulations by sally

RTA (Business Consultants) Ltd v Bracewell [2015] EWHC 630 (QB); [2015] WLR (D) 117

‘The effect of a breach of the registration requirement in regulation 33 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 by someone carrying on business in the undertaking of “estate agency work”, as defined in section 1(1) of the Estate Agents Act 1979, was that any contract made for the purposes of providing “estate agency work” was illegal and unenforceable.’

WLR Daily, 12th March 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

CMA to investigate competition law violation by estate agent trade association and members – Zenith Chambers

Posted December 11th, 2014 in competition, estate agents, fees, news, price fixing by sally

‘The Competition and Markets Authority has announced that it will probe as a priority suspected anticompetitive agreements involving three companies and a trade association operating in the property sales and lettings sector. The investigation puts under the spotlight possible violations of competition law relating to the setting and advertising of fees by estate agents. The CMA has concerns that the arrangements restricted choice for consumers and their ability to compare prices and value for money.’

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Zenith Chambers, 11th December 2014

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Judge criticises police for investigating ‘outrageous’ mother and daughter spat – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 14th, 2014 in damages, estate agents, families, harassment, news, police, theft by sally

‘Nicola Low, 71, and her daughter, Caroline Baines, 40, ran an estate agent together before their relationship ended in a spectacular fall out.’

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Daily Telegraph, 11th July 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk