How do I complain about an estate agent?
Estate agents must belong to an approved redress scheme, which gives you an independent decision for free. The order the complaint has to go in, what the schemes can award, and when it is a Trading Standards matter instead.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 10 min
- Read
- 4 min
Short answer
Complain to the agent in writing first and give them their published timescale to respond, usually eight weeks. If you are not satisfied, take it to the redress scheme they belong to — The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme — which is free to you and can award compensation. Misleading marketing and undisclosed referral fees are separately a Trading Standards matter.
The reason this process works is that membership of an approved redress scheme is compulsory for residential estate agents, and an agent who refuses to comply with a scheme decision faces expulsion and, without a scheme, cannot lawfully trade. That gives an ombudsman decision real weight even though it is free to the consumer.
Step by step
- Find out which scheme they belong to.It should be on their website, their letterhead and in the agency agreement. If you cannot find it, ask them directly, and search the scheme members' registers. An agent who is not in a scheme is itself a serious matter to report.
- Write the complaint properly.Dates, what happened, who said what, what you want as a resolution. Attach the agency agreement, the listing, and any emails. A complaint that reads as a narrative with documents attached is dealt with far faster than one that reads as a grievance.
- Send it to the person their procedure names.Agents must have a written complaints procedure and must give it to you on request. Following it matters, because the redress scheme will normally not look at a complaint that has not been through the agent's own process.
- Wait out their timescale, then escalate.The schemes generally require you to give the agent up to eight weeks, or to have received their final response. Keep the final response letter — the scheme will ask for it.
- Refer it to the scheme within the deadline.Each scheme sets a time limit for referral after the final response, commonly twelve months from the agent's final answer. Do not let a complaint drift past it.
- Say what you want the scheme to award.The schemes can direct an apology, a change in practice, a fee refund or reduction, and compensation for actual loss and for distress and inconvenience. Awards for inconvenience are modest; awards for demonstrated financial loss are the substantial ones.
- Use Trading Standards for the marketing offences.Misleading descriptions, omitted material information, undisclosed referral fees and pressure selling of in-house services are consumer protection matters. Report them to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service, and to the national estate agency team.
- Know what the scheme cannot do.It cannot decide a legal dispute between buyer and seller, cannot force a sale, and cannot rule on the price achieved. It rules on the agent's conduct against the code of practice and their contract with you.
Tips
- Ask for the written complaints procedure at the start of the complaint. It names the person, the address and the timescale, and following it exactly removes the agent's easiest defence.
- Quantify your loss with documents. 'It cost me time and worry' is worth little; 'this specific cost, here is the invoice' is what produces a substantial award.
- Keep the final response letter. Every scheme asks for it and its date starts the referral clock.
Common mistakes
- Going straight to the ombudsman — The schemes will send you back to the agent's own procedure first. Skipping it delays the outcome by weeks.
- Complaining about the price achieved — The schemes rule on conduct, not on commercial judgement. Frame the complaint around what the agent did or failed to do, and the loss that caused.
If it doesn't work
The agent did not pass on your offer
Cause: Agents must pass on all offers promptly until exchange — Fix: Put the complaint in writing to the agent citing the failure and the date, then escalate to the redress scheme. This is a clear breach of the codes of practice and of the statutory obligations.
You were told you had to use their conveyancer or broker
Cause: Conditional selling, which the codes prohibit — Fix: Complain in writing, then to the redress scheme, and report it to Trading Standards. You are entitled to choose your own conveyancer, broker and surveyor.
The agent is not in any redress scheme
Cause: Unlawful trading as a residential estate agent — Fix: Report it to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer service. Enforcement can include a financial penalty and a ban on the individual acting as an estate agent.
Questions people ask
Does it cost anything?
No. The redress schemes are free to consumers; the agents fund them through membership fees.
Is the decision binding?
It binds the agent if you accept it — accepting it normally ends your right to pursue the same complaint in court. You can reject it and go to court instead. Read the acceptance wording before signing.
What if I am the buyer, not the seller?
The schemes take complaints from buyers as well as sellers about the agent's conduct, for example misleading information or failing to pass on an offer. You do not have to have been the agent's client.
Does this cover letting agents?
Yes. Letting agents and property managers in England and Wales must also belong to a redress scheme, and tenants as well as landlords can complain to it.