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Article: Well appointed? Estate agents.(Do estate agents need licensing?)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 27, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Let by--or let down by?
Estate agents are reviled, but moving house in Britain is cheap
A POLL on Channel 5 news following the publication of a mildly critical report on estate agents by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on March 23rd found that 83% of respondents mistrusted them. To which the obvious retort from the many that are used to the lying, manipulation, secrecy and fraud so common in that fair trade is: how could 17% be so gullible?
Small wonder that the report, which said that things could be a bit better, advocates a bit more transparency and thinks that people should shop around more for better deals, was widely slated for being too ...