Standard Presentation

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Appendix A
GfK NOP Social Research
Home Buying and Selling Consumer Research
Qualitative Research Report 12th May
2009
Presented by GfK NOP Social Research Your
contact person Alison Palmer Deputy Manging
Director (Qualitative) Phone [phone]
9000 Fax [phone] E-mail alison.pal
mer_at_gfk.com Ref 452079/2409
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• This report was prepared for the Office of Fair
  Trading by GfK. The views expressed are those of
  the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
  views of the Office of Fair Trading.
• All verbatim quotations used in this report
  reflect respondents views and are illustrative
  of the findings of this research.

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Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
4
Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary

1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
5
Research ? Qualitative objectives
Overall, to understand consumer experience of the
residential property buying and selling process
in the UK as a precursor to a quantitative study
of the market

• In particular to
• explore the service provision elements of the
  process
• understand the high and low points within the
  process for consumers
• look at the use of and satisfaction with
  professionals
• review the extent to which consumers shop around
  during this process.

• And in addition to
• investigate consumer awareness of protection
  frameworks
• identify possible conflicts of interest in the
  process
• investigate whether consumers are prepared to
  consider alternative routes to buy or sell a
  property.

6
Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample

3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
7
Research ? Method

• Five focus groups were conducted across the UK
  with respondents from rural, suburban and urban
  locations

LONDON Southern England
STOCKPORTNorthern England
CARDIFFWales
BELFASTNorthern Ireland
ABERDEENScotland
Each focus group lasted two hours and contained
eight-nine participants
All fieldwork was conducted by Alison Palmer,
Josephine Hansom and Kathryn Hall of GfK
NOP during May 2009. Fieldwork took place
between April and May 2009
This document summarises the views of buyers and
sellers interviewed during the research process
and does not represent the opinion of GfK NOP or
OFT.
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Research ? Method
A series of 20 semi-structured depth interviews
with buyers and sellers These interviews form
the basis of individual case stories of the
consumers experience of the buying / selling
journey Respondents were recruited from a broad
range of locations within England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland
Each semi-structured interview lasted three
quarters of an hour to one hour, with eight
taking place face to face and the remaining
twelve being over the telephone
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Participants ? Sample

• The sample included a spread of home buyers and
  sellers

First-time-buyer
Consumers who were buying a property for the
first time.
Buying Selling
Consumers who were both buying and selling a
property at the same time.
Buying or Selling
Consumers who were either buying or selling a
property, but not for the first time.
In addition, participants were drawn from a
spread of ages, gender, socio economic grades,
life stages and size/value of property from one
bed flats to four bed houses.
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Participants ? Recruitment
Participant selection based on answers to a
screening questionnaire

• Participant characteristics
• bought or sold after April 2007
• solely or jointly responsible for making
  decisions about the purchase/sale
• buying/selling for own personal use, not
  buy-to-let.
• A specialist recruitment agency was employed to
  identify participants using a free-find method
  (via their contacts and snowballing).

All
A good spread of participant types across all
locations was achieved.
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Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3

Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
12
Context of Research ? The financial climate
May 2008
April 2008

• Impact of the financial climate
• reduction in consumer activity more people
  waiting before buying, some renting in between
  sale and purchase
• recent purchasers facing or in negative equity
• speculation about state of the housing market,
  for example, Welsh participants felt that the
  market was over the worst, Aberdeen participants
  thought to be outside general Scottish market
  forces because of oil industry, while the English
  and Northern Irish participants noted continuing
  uncertainty.

The current financial climate has impacted
severely on the housing market. Still viewed as
being in a state of flux.
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Context of Research ? The financial climate
'We found buying and selling difficult because
of the market. We didnt know if it was going up
or down. When I got my house on the market ()
the valuations were all over the place. We
didnt really know. Estate agents didnt seem to
know either.' (London)
'I understand that there is less people buying.
Prices arent massive. There are still offers
being made and there are still properties going
for silly money but rather than ten people
chasing it there is maybe only three or four.'
(Aberdeen)
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Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4

The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
15
The buying and selling journey ? Overview
Three distinct types of journey
Open to recommendation, guided by family /
professionals, unsure about process, relatively
straightforward process as less time-sensitive.
First-time-buyer
Timing crucial as more susceptible to delays due
to chain. Factors that added complexity to the
process included families moving and individuals
relocating. Buyers and sellers experienced the
most complex journeys as they were navigating two
processes simultaneously.
Buyer Seller
Sold property and rented due to UK market
uncertainty or sold abroad and moved to UK,
became appealing to sellers as no chain,
increased flexibility experienced consumers.
Buyer only / Sold in advance
The following flow diagrams give a high level
summary of how consumers reported their contact
with service providers during their buying and
selling journeys
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The buying and selling journey
? England, Wales and NI
17
The buying and selling journey (as expressed by
consumers) ? Buying (England, Wales and NI)
Think about finance obtain mortgage
Solicitor
IFA or Bank direct
A few seek a mortgage in principle

• Look for property/ find property

Apply for mortgage on basis of specific property
Finalise mortgage
IFA or Bank direct
Internet and Estate Agent
Surveyor
Some of the sample did not seek external
finance, for example, downsizers
Make offer
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The buying and selling journey (as expressed by
consumers) ? Selling (England, Wales and NI)
Some negotiate fees with estate agents
Solicitor
Internet
Estate Agent
Property viewings
Get general idea of price of property
Offer accepted (generally via estate agent)
Potential purchasers make offer on property
Select estate agent
Market valuation(s) of property
Market property
HIP/EPC prepared where required
Estate Agent
Estate Agent
Solicitor
Estate Agent
Surveyor
There were one or two examples where estate
agents were not used
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The buying and selling journey
? Scotland
20
The buying and selling journey (as expressed by
consumers) ? Buying (Scotland without an
estate agent)
Think about finance obtain mortgage
IFA or bank direct
Solicitor

• Look for property/ find property

in principle
Apply for mortgage on basis of specific property
Finalise mortgage
IFA or bank direct
Internet, SPC or EA
Solicitor
Surveyor (if offer made subject to survey)
Surveyor (if offer legally binding)
Some of the sample did not seek external
finance, for example, downsizers
Make offer
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The buying and selling journey (as expressed by
consumers) ? Selling (Scotland using a
Solicitor Property Centre)
Solicitor
Negotiate directly with potential purchaser or
refer to solicitor
Approach solicitor for valuation and preparation
of schedule
Get general idea of price of property
Show round potential purchasers
Accept offer
Internet
Go to sealed bids only if three interested
parties
Solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitor puts on SPC website
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The buying and selling journey ? The Scottish
System

• Buyers /sellers in Scotland seemed happier on the
  whole that their system was fair, transparent and
  timely
• greater involvement of individuals throughout the
  process, via the solicitor who acts on their
  behalf
• decisions about negotiating prices and setting a
  date for final offers, were mutually agreed with
  their solicitor
• individual buyers/sellers felt empowered to carry
  out their own price bargaining
• these were mostly, but not all, experienced
  consumers
• Some younger, first-time-buyers were also keen to
  negotiate having seen their parents do it
• timeline from beginning of the journey to
  completion can be very short if all goes to plan
  (weeks not months)
• legal penalties for defaulters means greater
  security in achieving a positive outcome
• this was also cited by participants in other
  regions as best practice
• recent introduction of HRs with survey, would
  reduce need for multiple surveys and potentially
  speed up the process.

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The buying and selling journey (as expressed by
consumers) ? The Scottish System cont.

• According to consumers the use of a solicitor for
  property buying/selling had both advantages and
  disadvantages

DISADVANTAGES Not property experts, may not have
valuation knowledge Might be spread too thinly
at times when market is very buoyant Appear to
delegate to less well trained staff for aspects
of transaction whilst charging at the same rates.
ADVANTAGES Highly trained in legal
affairs Abides by professional
guidelines Feeling that if you cant trust your
solicitor, who can you trust?
Increased use of the Internet by Solicitors
Property Centres has resulted in a more dynamic
approach to the marketing of properties in
Scotland - making it easier to identify
properties in any given area, thereby opening up
the customer base for sellers
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The buying and selling journey ? The Scottish
System cont.
'The difference between England and Scotland,
is that here legally the people are in charge.'
(Aberdeen)
'If the buyer backs out, and you then cant sell
the house for the same amount, you know you can
sue that person for the difference.' (Aberdeen)
Advantages
'You get seven days cooling off in Scotland,
after making an offer and after that, thats it
youre buying it, and theyll take you to court
if you dont. So you dont get silly offers ()
maybe they could do that in the rest of UK.'
(London)
'In Glasgow there is a law that you cant get
gazumped () which should be put in here.'
(Stockport)
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The buying and selling journey ? The Scottish
System cont.
'You will never get a property expert if you use
a solicitor. If you want an expert you will pay
for a chartered surveyor to do a survey ().
Solicitors are not going to stand there and put
their hands on their hearts and say that is a
good property or a bad property because they are
not the experts.' (Aberdeen)
Disadvantages
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The buying and selling journey
? HIPs, HRs, EPCs
27
The buying and selling journey ? HIPs

• Majority of research participants bought/sold
  before HIPs/HRs/EPCs became legal requirement
• Knew little about them other than what they had
  heard in the press.
• Overall negative feeling about them
• additional cost to seller
• unnecessary additional paperwork
• no tangible benefit to buyer as they would want
  to buy because they liked the property and would
  commission own searches etc. and so the HIP would
  be irrelevant.

HIPs (England and Wales)
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The buying and selling journey ? HIPs
'They just use the information that I could have
easily found myself () It didnt exactly set the
world on fire. To be honest, I found it
pointless.' (Cardiff)
'There was about sixty pages in there and I
thought aghhh!' (Cardiff)
'Complete waste of time. They tell you very
little about anything really.' (Belfast)
29
The buying and selling journey ? HIPs
'The problem is if youre selling a cheaper
house, its a bigger chunk of the price.' (London)
'It did open up my eyes a bit. I was a first
time buyer and it did tell me what I can do with
the property, what I cant do. General stuff
like that.' (London)
30
The buying and selling journey ? EPCs (England,
Wales, Scotland and NI)

• Knew little about them but some recognition of
  energy rating format when prompted (similar to
  that used with white goods).
• Not viewed as a document that would sway a buying
  decision.

'In hindsight, I think after buying my house I
would have appreciated something like that EPC
because with it being in a terrace and its an
old house, so theres no insulation.' (Belfast)
'I think if I was buying a property which has had
a HIP Id be more influenced by what the
valuation said rather than how energy efficient
it is (). As long as the value stacked up and
also there was no subsidence and stuff like that
thats what would determine whether or not I
would go ahead and buy a property.' (Cardiff)
'The HIP Assessor said the only thing you could
do differently to make your apartment more
efficient is have energy saving light bulbs. So I
said right, ok, thanks and we had to pay three
hundred odd pounds for that.' (Stockport)
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The buying and selling journey ? HRs (Scotland)

• Not much known about HRs apart from press
  comment.
• General feeling that they may speed up process as
  HR contains an independent survey. Leading to
  fewer offers made subject to survey as is the
  case now.
• Some noticed that they were currently available
  with the property details on the Solicitors
  Property Centre website.

'The reality of buying the house is that it is
based on subjective feeling and emotion, and
whether you can see yourself in the house () and
I dont think that you can actually capture that
in reports.' (Aberdeen)
'The Home Pack seems to be a lot of work () and
it doesnt seem to have much bearing on ()
selling the house.' (Aberdeen)
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Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5

Professionals
6
Service issues
7
Moving forward
33
Professionals ? Trust

• Solicitors were trusted most as they were seen as
  qualified professionals

Solicitors
IFA
Professionals viewed as essential to the journey
Surveyor
Conveyancer
Estate agents were subject to the most distrust
amongst participants who questioned the
value-for-money, transparency and the service
they were receiving
Estate Agents
Participants perceptions of professionals
Professionals who are qualified or personally
recommended More trusted. Professionals
without industry guidelines Less trusted.
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Professionals ? Trust
'Solicitors do conveyancing day to day. It
is their job and we have figures in mind that we
are willing to pay and we just left it to them to
do their job kind of thing and they came back to
us and we have got jobs ourselves to do, so just
let them do the work. I was happy for them to do
that.' (Aberdeen)
'Within the buying process you are out of
control. Youve just got to let the
professionals do what they do.' (London)
35
Professionals ? Trust
'I sent them off and said right do me a costing
and tell me how much it will cost to go with
you. I had three different solicitors (). I
ended up going back to the one I had used before
because they were forty quid dearer, but I had a
relationship with them and over you know,
whatever it was, eighteen hundred quid overall to
buy and sell with your solicitor. I think that
was worth it.' (Stockport)
'It is trust isnt it? What would put me off
using a one stop shop for house selling/buying
is if I didnt feel comfortable and that they
didnt really know what they were doing and
whether they were looking out for me. Sometimes
if you have a relationship already then it gives
you an element of trust and comfort doesnt it?
That they would be looking out for you.'
(Aberdeen)
36
Professionals ? Surveyors in buying process
Think about finance obtain mortgage
Surveyor (for example, Home Buyers Survey)

• Look for property/ find property

in principle
Apply for mortgage on basis of specific property
Finalise mortgage
Surveyor (valuation of property)
Make offer
37
Professionals ? Surveyors in selling process
Negotiate fees with estate agents
Property viewings
Get general idea of price of property
Offer accepted (generally via EA)
Potential purchasers make offer on property
Select estate agent
Market valuation(s) of property
Market property
HIP/EPC/HR prepared where required
Surveyor
There were one or two examples where estate
agents were not used
38
Professionals ? Surveyors

• Not everyone commissioning independent surveys
• relying on valuation survey done by lender
• new build buyers relying on builder/developer
• consumers in Wales and Northern Ireland less
  likely to commission an independent survey.
• Selection of surveyor deemed a low priority
• viewed as an accountable profession
• local reputation paramount.
• When commissioning independent survey, several
  routes were identified
• recommendation by friends/relatives
• recommendation by IFA, estate agent, solicitor
• very little shopping around
• little choice according to some consumers as few
  surveyors in local area
• large local firms held sway.

Most properties were bought/sold pre HIPs/HR
39
The buying and selling journey ? Surveyors
'I spoke to the estate agent and I said do you
know anybody that is a surveyor? and they said
well, we always recommend this bloke and there
was no compulsion and I said fair enough and I
went and looked at his fees and they looked
alright and so I went with him.' (Stockport)
'I chose my surveyor because he was a pal of my
uncle.' (Stockport)
'I got mine from the estate agency as I wasnt
really concentrating on that surveying. I was
concentrating on other things so I went for the
easy option.' (London)
40
The buying and selling journey ? Surveyors
'It is more fashionable now to do the survey
after making an offer and everybody is doing
that subject to survey, so that means that people
dont have to go through the expense of the
survey if they ended up not successfully
purchasing the property.' (Aberdeen)
'I am very distrustful, but I would accept a
survey and I wouldn't get another one. I would
just take it as it is if it was from a licensed
surveyor.' (Aberdeen)
41
Professionals ? Estate Agent in buying process
Think about finance obtain mortgage

• Look for property/ find property

in principle
Apply for mortgage on basis of specific property
Finalise mortgage
Estate Agent
Estate Agent
Estate Agent
Make offer
42
Professionals ? Estate Agent in selling process
Negotiate fees with estate agents
Estate Agent
Property viewings
Get general idea of price of property
Offer accepted (generally via EA)
Potential purchasers make offer on property
Select estate agent
Market valuation(s) of property
Market property
HIP/EPC/HR prepared where required
Estate Agent
Estate Agent
Estate Agent
There were one or two examples where estate
agents were not used
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Professionals ? Estate Agents

• Most participants in England, Wales and NI bought
  and sold using an estate agent. Where used in
  Scotland the role was the same
• act as an intermediary between parties (that is,
  communicate offers)
• provide a marketing service for sellers
• provide an introduction service for buyers.
• Estate agents had a poor reputation in all
  locations
• lack of trust many customers suspected that
  estate agents do not always behave professionally
  or honourably. However, they found this hard to
  prove because of lack of transparency in the
  process
• poor communicators
• sales oriented, not customer focused
• the service offered by estate agents varied / was
  not consistent across suppliers, making it hard
  for customers to compare and contrast various
  estate agent service offers.
• Criteria for selecting estate agent when selling
  not in any order as often a mix of reasons
  identified
• percent fees charged
• property valuation
• local area specialism/visibility
• personal recommendation.

44
Professionals ? Estate Agents
'I said that a competitor estate agent within
the area gave me a certain percent commission
rate (). It wasnt significantly less, but it
was less, and they said theyd have a think about
it and they phoned me back within about two hours
and they said yeah, well do it with that.
Whether they checked, I dont know but at the end
of the day as the gentleman said, its still
business for them if they sell it, you know,
whether its one percent, 1.5 percent, its
better than losing it to a competitor.' (Cardiff)
'Got a friend who actually worked in an estate
agent and we knew him and hed done us a deal
with the fees.' (Belfast)
Choosing Estate Agents
45
Professionals ? Estate Agents
'You need to get a good estate agents () if you
want to sell. We invited five round to do a
valuation of our flat. There was huge variation
on the valuations (). I know certain estate
agents have a reputation for being a bit
cut-throatgetting you on at a cheap price so
they can get the sale through quickly and turn
over the property (). Eventually we worked with
an agent who was willing to work with a slightly
higher valuation and maybe wait a bit longer for
the sale.' (London)
'I think youd choose one thats maybe been
going for a long time () a well known company.'
(Belfast)
Choosing Estate Agents
46
Professionals ? Estate Agents
'Even though we didnt use an estate agent ()
for the house we bought, our buyers were renting
through the same estate agent and because of that
it was so transparent and they just kept us
informed right the way along the line. They were
brilliant.' (Cardiff)
'It always seems to start off well fella will
come in and take the photos, its up on the
Internet, in the brochure, the for sale signs are
put up dead quick and then you hear nothing.'
(Belfast)
Communication
'Estate agents are good if you let them know what
area you are interested in and I find if you say
to them, look can you let me know and one
particular estate agent ended up texting me every
so often to say such and such house has come on
the market. That was good.' (Belfast)
47
Professionals ? Estate Agents
'There is no transparency at all. You have no
idea they could tell you they are receiving
bids, but you dont know.' (Belfast)
'They lie. They were saying that it was chain
free and give you one set of information but
it is as if they werent even there. They werent
getting us both together to try and move things
on or anything like that basically.' (Cardiff)
'Sometimes you dont know whose side they are
on.' (Stockport)
Trust
'When you first put your house on the market and
all of a sudden you have got all these viewers I
am sure they are family friends of theirs the
estate agent so they can say there is loads of
people going to come and view your house and they
all look alike.' (Stockport)
48
Alternatives ? Private transactions

• Selling with an estate agent viewed as the norm
• general view that selling without an estate agent
  would be complicated and stressful
• consumers see private transactions as an
  unnecessary risk given the emotional and
  financial importance to them of their home
  buy/selling. However, consumers who were
  dissatisfied with the service they received from
  their estate agents said they would consider
  alternative approaches to buying/selling.
• Some examples of private transactions
• buying direct from family/friend (Wales, NI and
  England)
• a potential buyer tracked down the owner of an
  empty rental property and offered to buy direct
  (Wales)
• ambulance chasing or offering to buy a property
  from relatives of deceased was cited as common
  practice in rural areas (Scotland)
• one respondent had negotiated several of her own
  sales/purchases over the years directly with
  buyer/seller (Scotland)
• one purchaser negotiated directly with the
  builder/developer in order tocut out the estate
  agent who was seen to be unhelpful (NI).

49
Alternatives ? Private transactions
'I think that it private transactions is not
really what is classed as the norm is it? Because
everybody really is so used to dealing with
estate agents and going through that way. It is
so different isnt it?' (Stockport)
'We bought from a family friend so yes it was
really straightforward (). We knew them and just
dealt with them. It was really straightforward.
I mean in fairness to him he waited for ten
months for us.' (Cardiff)
'My dad found out about a house going to be sold
and we did that, he negotiated with the seller
and it was never on the market and you do hear of
that.' (Aberdeen)
buying a new-build direct from developer 'I
didnt even realise that you could negotiate with
them. I just accepted the price they were
selling at.' (London)
50
Professionals ? Solicitors/Conveyancers in
buying process
Think about finance obtain mortgage
Solicitor
Look for property/ find property
in principle
Apply for mortgage on basis of specific property
Finalise mortgage
Solicitor/SPC Scotland
Solicitor/SPC Scotland
Solicitor/SPC Scotland
Make offer
51
Professionals ? Solicitors/Conveyancers in
selling process
Negotiate fees with estate agents
Solicitor
Property viewings
Get general idea of price of property
Offer accepted (generally via EA)
Potential purchasers make offer on property
Select estate agent
Market valuation(s) of property
Market property
HIP/EPC/HR prepared where required
Solicitor
There were one or two examples where estate
agents were not used
52
Professionals ? Solicitors/Conveyancers
(England, Wales and NI)

• Established part of the process when buying and
  selling
• solicitor is seen as a qualified professional
• provide legal services plus conveyancing
  (conveyancing may be conducted by a non-legal
  colleague)
• a minority chose to use a conveyancing firm
  (separate to a solicitor).
• Selection/Choosing
• recommended by family/friends
• previous personal experience/family solicitor
• well known locally
• introduced by estate agent, IFA,
  builder/developer.
• Cost/Payments
• some requested quotes and progressed on that
  basis
• there were invariably extras on the final bill
• some did not request quotes
• however solicitors generally sent a note of
  charges upon commissioning
• final bill often included extras
• less resentment to cost of solicitor (compared to
  estate agent).
• Service
• Many believed solicitors were slow and did not
  respond to customers requests in a timely
  fashion.
• In general, customers seemed to be more demanding
  of their solicitor than they were

53
Professionals ? Solicitors/Conveyancers
(England, Wales and NI)
'I used an e-conveyancing firm and they were
actually based up in Manchester. Ive got to say
they were brilliant, they were a little bit slow
but every time you phoned youd speak to a member
of the team who would have access to your case.
However, everything was very, very efficient, all
done electronically.' (Cardiff)
'In my case Id been using them solicitors for
about the last 20 years or so.' (Belfast)
54
Professionals ? Solicitors/Conveyancers
(England, Wales and NI)
'I sent them off and said right do me a costing
and tell me how much it will cost to go with you.
I had three different solicitors () and I ended
up going back to the one I had used before
because they were forty quid dearer but I had a
relationship with them and over you know whatever
it was eighteen hundred quid overall to buy and
sell with your solicitor, it wasnt a lot. I
think that was worth it.' (Stockport)
'The solicitors charges just range so much.
You get one person wholl charge you 200 and
another will charge you 1200 and you think why
should I pay a chunk just for their reputation?'
(London)
'I didnt bother comparing solicitors rates.
This bloke came by reputation.' (Stockport)
55
Professionals ? Solicitors/Solicitors' Property
Centres (Scotland)

• Using a solicitor is an established part of the
  process when buying and selling in Scotland
• solicitor is seen as a qualified professional
• provides legal services plus conveyancing
• arranges schedule and photographs of property for
  marketing purposes
• uses Solicitors Property Centre for marketing of
  property.
• Selection/Choosing
• recommended by family/friends
• previous personal experience/family solicitor
• well known locally
• very occasionally introduced by IFA,
  builder/developer.
• Cost/Payments
• Many who used their usual solicitor did not
  request quotes
• customers received a note of charges upon
  commissioning
• final bill often included extras.
• A few who used solicitor for the first time
  requested quotes and progressed on that basis
• there were invariably extras at the end of the
  process.
• Service
• there was a strong feeling in trust of solicitors
  by those buying/selling in Scotland
• many tended to have existing connection with
  solicitor for (wider) family legal affairs

56
Professionals ? Solicitors/Solicitors' Property
Centres (Scotland)
'I phoned around a few places and got quotes for
a purchase to do the legal work and that is how I
chose the first time round. Second time round it
was through the wifes work and we got a discount
for doing it that way.' (Aberdeen)
'I would be going to the solicitors that seemed
to be buying and selling a lot of properties and
they would obviously then have the expertise ().
I think that if you look in the property journal
you see who is doing what.' (Aberdeen)
'I kept my buying and selling through the same
solicitor so I got a good deal because I was
giving them my house to sell but I was also
buying through him. So I got better rates and
negotiated rates down based on that factor.'
(Aberdeen)
57
Additional services or professional
recommendations ? Estate Agents

• Estate agents almost universal in offering
  additional services from partners. Examples of
  recommended additional services were
• Most experienced buyers/sellers did not think
  they would get a good deal from estate agent
  partners as they could be biased.
• First time buyers were more open to the
  suggestion of partner services as they were less
  savvy and needed more guidance.
• Some consumers found the estate agents pushed
  them into interviews or meetings with financial
  advisors on site, even when they said they were
  not interested
• estate agent suggested it would speed things up
  if they used estate agent partner services
• estate agent indicated there was a financial
  advantage in going with partner / discounts
  available.
• Customers thought there was some financial gain
  to estate agent recommending partners, although
  little awareness of how this would impact on
  their bill.
• Some customers accepted recommendations although
  at end of process some were unsure as to whether
  they had received value-for-money as they had no
  means of comparison.

• financial / mortgage advice
• insurance products

• surveys and HIPs / HRs / EPCs
• solicitor / conveyancer.

58
Additional services or professional
recommendations ? Estate Agents
'When I bought my previous house we went to a
local estate agent () and expressed an interest
and decided we were going to buy it and they
encouraged us to speak to the mortgage adviser in
the branch, which I was very sceptical of because
I thought they just, you know, its an agreement
between them () but to be fair they did give us
the best deal that was out there at that time,
thats going back ten years and weve been with
them ever since so I was sceptical but it turned
out in hindsight to be, you know, a good idea.'
(Cardiff)
'Im in two minds about that additional
services. Ive done it before when Ive just
used the services they recommend and the mortgage
they recommend just to grease the wheels a bit
() Hopefully, youll get a better relationship
with them.' (London)
59
Additional services or professional
recommendations ? Estate Agents
'I have dealt with three different ones estate
agents and each one of them has said do you
want to sit down and just come in and have a
meeting with our mortgage advisor.' (Stockport)
'They made it the additional services sound
compulsory and I have now found out that it
wasnt compulsory.' (Stockport)
60
Additional services or professional
recommendations ? Solicitors/Conveyancers

• Solicitors were trusted to make recommendations
  and their advice was often taken. Examples of
  additional services offered were
• introduction to IFA for mortgage advice
• SPCs for marketing properties (Scotland)
• Surveyors
• Home Report producers (Scotland).

61
Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6

Service issues
7
Moving forward
62
Service ? Complaints Estate Agents

• Although a lot of dissatisfaction regarding
  estate agents, most customers would not complain
• Reason for complaining
• if they lost the property they wanted to buy
• if property remains unsold for too long.
• Reason for not complaining
• do not want to rock the boat during the process
• do not want another thing to do during/post
  purchase/sale
• the moment has passed (after the process)
  successful purchase/sale.
• There was almost no knowledge of to whom to
  complain about an estate agent
• they would address small complaints to head of
  estate agent
• for more serious complaints they would do an
  Internet search such as complain about estate
  agent
• one or two mentioned an Ombudsman find via
  Internet.

63
Service ? Complaints Estate Agents
'If it was customer service youd just go
directly to them the estate agent but if its
something that theyre falsely advertising or not
doing, I dont know.' (Cardiff)
'You could always complain about the service
youre getting but you dont want to rock the
boat too much because theres always that thought
in the back of your mind that you might annoy
them and itll get even worse.' (Cardiff)
'I think the majority of us would be very
reluctant () to complain about a professional,
unless there was something specifically they had
done wrong.' (London)
64
Service ? Potential misconduct Estate Agents

• Examples cited by respondents of where estate
  agents were possibly not working in their best
  interests
• estate agent suggested reducing price of property
  and then sold to a developer at less than market
  value
• a property was on the market for some time
  without much interest. Once a potential buyer
  approached the estate agent and expressed strong
  interest, the estate agent sold the property to a
  developer friend who then offered to resell the
  property to this potential buyer at an additional
  30-40k
• estate agents not passing on offers to seller
  immediately resulting in the estate agents
  conducting a (fictitious?) bidding war without
  the sellers knowledge
• estate agents insisting that sellers MUST use the
  additional services provided by their partners.

65
Service ? Potential misconduct Estate Agents
'Well ours have been a bit naughty when we had
ours up for sale. After about a month or six
weeks () they were like I think we should ()
reduce the price because of the current economy
and what is going on and I just said give it a
chance. You know if you give it a chance and you
are not really giving it a chance which means you
are not positive when you are promoting it to
people because you dont think it is worth what
it is.' (Stockport)
'When we bought my place, there were three other
people who had apparently put an offer in. I
really dont think three other people had put an
offer in, but the estate agents said they had.
And he actually said youll have to up your offer
if you want to get it, and I didnt. Then all of
a sudden the three other people must have
disappeared. Its a bit of a game.' (London)
66
Service ? Complaints Solicitors

• There was some dissatisfaction with solicitors,
  but no one had complained and most would not
  complain
• some had queried a solicitors bill, however, and
  had asked for explanations for extra items that
  they were not expecting
• reason for complaining would be
• solicitor was perceived to be acting too slowly
• if they lost the property they wanted to buy due
  to the actions of the solicitor.
• reason for not complaining similar to those for
  estate agents
• do not want to rock the boat during the process
• do not want another thing to do during/post
  purchase/sale
• the moment has passed.
• Plus
• consumers do not fully understand the legal
  processes required for buying/selling and they
  are not sure of their grounds for complaint.
• little knowledge of where to complain about
  solicitors, but believed there was a professional
  body and it would be easy to find
• in the first instance many consumers would
  complain to the head of the practice/managing
  director
• one or two mentioned the Law Society / Law
  Society of Scotland by name would Google it.

67
Service ? Complaints Solicitors
'Considering theyre supposed to be professionals
and theyre paid all this money what on earth do
they do all day because obviously theyre not
chasing things up for you because everybody I
know whos bought a property always has to chase
up solicitors.' (Cardiff)
'This is the frustration to me, like last
November there werent any houses being sold and
() it just took forever and ever and ever and
ever and I just think our solicitors they
werent demanding enough to be honest with you.'
(Cardiff)
Grievances
'I found from my experience that () I had to be
on the phone all the time and I had to chase and
I had to ring them up () constantly.' (Stockport)
68
Service ? Complaints Solicitors
'Well the Law Society is open, but I mean if
you are not happy with what the guy is doing, why
not tell him the solicitor himself' (Belfast)
'I would say complain to the Law Society if you
had a particular grievance with either the firm
or the bigger parent company and because I know
for a fact that solicitors are accountable and
they do have to be perceived to deliver and act
ethically all the time, so if they act out of
character or youre dissatisfied you can complain
to the Law Society.' (Cardiff)
Recourse
69
Service ? Complaints Surveyors

• Consumers did not appear to engage much with
  surveyors
• surveys had to be done for mortgage purposes /
  for valuations / for peace of mind regarding
  whether offer price in line with property value
  and condition
• surveys were carried out by trained
  professionals
• little or no evidence of anyone complaining about
  them
• few knew who they would complain to about a
  surveyor, but believed it was a profession with a
  professional association
• start with firm itself / head of practice
• look up Internet for professional body.

70
Service ? Complaints Surveyors
'I know an estate agent who has told us things
about surveyors that you wouldn't believe. They
go in and some of them are only there for half an
hour and they dont go in the loft and they dont
check this () and they come in a suit and they
dont even have a ladder'. (Stockport)
'If you pay 750 for a survey I want a list of
what that was going to include. I wanted to know
he was going to be there for three hours and he
was going to do this and this and a house of this
size and this many bedrooms he was going to go
down there, up there and round there and you know
that doesnt seem to exist either because it is a
lottery.' (Stockport)
'It is bad when the bank tells you which
surveyor you have to use () Again when you are
looking at offers () the bank will want the
lowest price possible on their survey because
they want to protect their investment. So if a
surveyor is doing a lot of work for that bank he
will be tempted to favour them in any estimates
he makes I think.' (Aberdeen)
71
Agenda
Research overview, objectives and management
summary
1
2
Qualitative method and sample
3
Context of research
4
The buying and selling journey
5
Professionals
6
Service issues

7
Moving forward
72
Moving forward ? Conclusions

• Consumer understanding of the journey process
• It isnt a process that people carry out very
  many times in their lives, so they have limited
  experience to go on.
• Even those who have bought and sold a few times
  are not always sure that they know the exact
  process that has to be followed, and the process
  has altered since the last time they were in the
  property market, for example, advent of
  HIPs/HRs/EPCs.
• Those who have not bought before in the UK,
  including first time buyers, rely on friends,
  family and professionals to help guide them
  through the process.
• Some people/character types are more comfortable
  with navigating the process and operating the
  system than others people who like to
  bargain/negotiate and who enjoy dealing with
  people are more comfortable dealing with estate
  agents, solicitors, surveyors and IFAs. At the
  other end of the spectrum there are less outgoing
  first time buyers, who feel overwhelmed with the
  process and consequently find it hard to
  negotiate and handle the professionals involved
  in the property market. There are, of course
  many character types in between these two
  extremes. Feeling comfortable with the process
  does not appear to relate to gender, age or
• lifestage. However, there was some indication
  from the qualitative research that people in
• Northern Ireland and Scotland were particularly
  comfortable with handling the sale
• and purchase of their property.

There were three areas which emerged from the
detailed consumer research that might usefully be
investigated further in the quantitative
research, and which might be looked at more
closely in progressing with any move towards
regulation of the industry
73
Moving forward ? Conclusions cont.

• Transparency of the process
• the process is not felt to be transparent, even
  to the savvy customers
• there was consumer confusion between the roles of
  the various service providers.
• estate agents in particular were thought to be
  generally secretive, preferring to keep the
  customer at bay, and dealing on his or her behalf
  behind closed doors. This lead to a feeling of
  mistrust
• estate agents believed to be driven by self
  interest / fee chasing
• bidding wars take place out of sight of the
  customer
• estate agents ostensibly act on behalf of the
  buyer (who pays), but not, in the consumers
  opinion, where they can gain more by playing
  buyers off against one another
• estate agents are not seen as professionals with
  qualifications, but a bunch of smart sales
  people
• solicitors have a much better press as
  professionals, although there is still lack of
  transparency here
• what precisely the solicitor does in respect of
  the selling/buying process
• how their charges are calculated for the work
  they do
• how they negotiate with potential buyers/sellers
• in Scotland where they act as property agent as
  well as solicitor/conveyancer, they dont come in
  for the same criticism as the estate agent in
  other parts of the UK
• their broader role as family solicitor gives them
  greater status in the eyes of the customer,
  making it hard to believe they would do anything
  but act in their clients best interest.

74
Moving forward ? Conclusions cont

• Buyers/sellers would like a more transparent
  process where they can
• see what is happening at each step
• be involved in the process / not kept in the
  dark
• know what to expect from their contract so they
  know when they are getting value for money
• know when they are not being well served so they
  can complain and get things put right straight
  away.
• The provision of information about the process
  and how the system works, and who is responsible
  for which elements of the sale/purchase would add
  greatly to consumers feelings of being at ease
  with, and in control of, the process.
• Future regulation of the process needs to handle
  the lack of transparency
• give negotiating powers back to the individual
  empowerment
• pay fairly for services rendered not based on a
  percent of property value as this is not seen to
  reflect the work / effort put in by the
  providers
• clearly lay out time frames.

75
Moving forward ? Conclusions cont

• Complaints
• Consumers were not moved to complain, either
  during or after the process, although some did
  follow up with providers about irregularities on
  their final bill.
• There is currently a lack of readily available
  information about professional bodies and
  guidance on the complaints procedure for the
  various providers, especially estate agents.
• Customers would appreciate more help and guidance
  on making complaints or at least querying
  irregularities and pursuing missed opportunities.
  There are two main routes for information
  provision
• in writing directly from providers
• on the Internet from a trusted source.

76
Moving forward ? Insights
Transparent, online offers
Sellers wanted more control over the offers made
on their property, hence suggesting an online
ebay system.
Centralised self-selling
Based on the Scottish system Sellers commission
an independent property marketing company to
create a brochure (for a fee) which would be
placed online (for another fee). Buyers then
contact seller directly to make offers.
77
Moving forward ? Insights
'If the sellers had a page that was linked to
the property, on their website that the owner
could look at, people who are bidding could look
at. they could even kind of leave the phone
number of the estate agents. They could bid
online.' (Belfast)
'I really like eBay () the fact that when you
bid on something its legally binding, you have
to pay for it, you have the bidding history, you
can see whether people and what prices it goes
for. If that, if you could have something like
that for property, it would really wipe out all
the, you know, the false bidding.' (Belfast)
'I think there should be disclosure of other
offers made on a property () You dont have to
say the amounts but say who they are because it
could be the sellers brother.' (London)
78
Moving forward ? Insights cont.
Contrasting with a sellers agent (that is, a
traditional estate agent), a buyers agent acts
on behalf of the buyer to find a suitable
property for them to purchase. Suggestion based
on the American system/Location Location
Location TV programme
A Buyers Agent
Service standards for Estate Agents
Buyers and sellers wanted the role of estate
agents to be pre-defined. This would give
consumers greater confidence when challenging the
services they receive and understanding the
services they should expect to receive
79
Moving forward ? Insights
'I think there has to be a quality standard and
they estate agents all should adhere to a
certain standard () They need to be set
objectives on what they need to actually do to
achieve those standards, because at the moment
each one is totally different () Theyre totally
different but if they all had to adhere to a
certain standard then I think it would be
better.' (Cardiff)
'I think there should be the same commission rate
between each estate agent.' (Cardiff)
'In America you have buyer agents who are able
to say oh this house has subsidence and this
house has dry rot. They would have done all
that research for you and () as I said they will
walk with you as you search houses, not just the
house you pick, but every house that you look
at.' (Aberdeen)