However, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has stressed that although the number of complaints to the Ombudsman increased by 18%, it must be noted that only 182 of the complaints that went to a full investigation were ruled against the estate agent. This is down on the 202 recorded for 2001.
Commenting on the results, Julie Westby, President of the NAEA, said: "The NAEA has its own compliance scheme, tougher than the one operated by the Ombudsman. All of our 9,500 members have to comply with it; ill-practice is not tolerated. We fully support the Ombudsman’s scheme and actively encourage consumers to contact the Ombudsman is they feel unhappy.
“We agree with Gillian Shephard (MP), Chairman of the Council for OEA, who has stated that the increase in complaints is not because of an increase in poor performance on the agents’ part, but because consumers are, rightly, becoming more aware of their rights and are more willing to seek redress if they feel dissatisfied.
“The number of housing transactions were much higher in 2002 than in 2001, a fact that the Ombudsman unfairly fails to point out in the context of the rise in the number of complaints. Total complaints represented a tiny 0.4% of transactions in England and Wales last year. The number of complaints going against the estate agent represented only 0.01% of all transactions. Clearly, estate agents deal with the vast majority of transactions professionally and efficiently.”
