An estate agent who represents the vendor – or seller – through a contractual relationship. They must have all required paperwork signed and returned before they can market any property for sale under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 Act.
If a seller instructs two or more estate agents on either a sole agency or sole selling rights basis, they may have to pay more than one commission, known as dual fee liability.
Under a joint agency agreement, two or more agencies agree to share sale commission regardless of which agency sells the property.
A multi-agency agreement sees the seller instruct more than one estate agent, with all acting independently. Only the agent who introduces the successful buyer would receive commission.
A sole agency agreement sees a seller instruct one agent to sell their home for a fixed period.
This gives that agent a period of exclusivity to sell the property and if another agent was instructed during the fixed period and sold the property, the first agent would still be entitled to a fee.
If the seller sold the property privately, however, and the buyer didn’t view the property through the agency, the seller would not have to pay commission.
Under a sole selling rights agreement, the estate agent retains exclusive selling rights of the property – even if it’s sold by someone else.
This would mean the seller still has to pay that agent their commission fee, regardless of who the property is sold by.
Agents are required by law to conduct anti-money laundering checks on all those selling or buying a property. Our offices may complete these in house or outsource the initial checks to a partner supplier who will contact you once you have agreed to instruct us in your sale or had an offer accepted on a property you wish to buy. The cost of these checks will be advised to you by the office before you commit to their services. These charges cover the cost of obtaining relevant data and any manual checks and monitoring which might be required. This fee will need to be paid by you in advance of your property being published (in the case of a vendor) or issuing a memorandum of sale (in the case of a buyer).
An anti-money laundering check is carried out by estate agents to verify identities in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
The information provided by both sellers and buyers is handled exclusively by the estate agency staff to comply with these regulations.
Seller identities are verified when signing the Agency Agreement, while buyer identities are checked before proceeding with an offer.
An applicant is someone interested in buying or renting a property.
An applicant is classed as someone who wishes to buy or rent a property, thus becoming a buyer or tenant.
A tenancy application is submitted by someone who wishes to rent a property.
Arrangement of a tenancy is when the application has been accepted subject to referencing.
A tenant classed as ‘in arrears’ is one who has unpaid rent due in whole or in part after the date of payment specified in their tenancy agreement.
