James Scott-Lee, of Chancellors, one of the most influential and highly respected figures in estate agency, has died suddenly as the result of an accident at the age of 66.

The Chancellors Group, which is headquartered in Bracknell, Berkshire, today has over 50 branches in England and Wales. Its managing director is Robert Scott-Lee, the son of James, who took over the day-to-day running of the firm when his father assumed the role of chairman.

The group includes Chancellors, Anscombe & Ringland, and Russell Baldwin & Bright.

Scott-Lee, a chartered surveyor, was a long-term leading light at, and spokesperson for, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and was also for a time director of Live, the conveyancing organisation.

A statement from Chancellors said: “The Chancellors Group of estate agents are extremely sad to announce the untimely loss of their chairman and well respected industry figure James Scott-Lee.

“James Scott-Lee died on Saturday, October 28, aged 66, following a tragic accident at his home.

“The management team at Chancellors, led by his son Robert, the managing director, will miss his support and guidance greatly but of course now focus on continuing to successfully drive the business in the direction James had established over the years.

“Raised in Herefordshire, James left school and began his career in the property industry in the markets department of local firm F. H. Sunderland & Co.

“After an apprenticeship in most areas of the business he moved to the home counties and during this period James also qualified as a surveyor as a member of the ISVA.

“He joined the well-known Buckinghamshire firm of Howard Son & Gooch (and it was whilst managing their Amersham office that he met his wife Jill).

“With his experience and skills continuing to grow, in the early 80s he became a partner in the Oxfordshire firm of Vernon & Son.

“This move coincided with the radical sea change in the property industry as large financial services firms began acquiring estate agency practices to build the larger chains that they saw as key to the growth of their businesses.

“James opened a number of new offices for Vernon & Son before in 1986 they were acquired by Hogg Robinson, the financial services and travel business.

“The late 80s saw the boom and bust of the property market as the Chancellor Nigel Lawson announced the withdrawal of mortgage tax relief and buyers rushed to buy properties before the deadline.

“James was by now responsible for the Hogg Robinson Property Services offices throughout the home counties of England and also those in Wales.

“With the introduction of the Financial Services Act, Hogg Robinson Property Services became a tied agent of Sun Alliance and by 1990 had been acquired by them.

“It was shortly after that, James became the managing director of the newly renamed Chancellors Group of Estate Agents with its sub-brands of Anscombe & Ringland in London and Russell Baldwin & Bright in Herefordshire and Wales.

“James worked incredibly hard through the early 90s to keep Chancellors in business as the economic depression following the withdrawal from the ERM piled challenge upon challenge on estate agency businesses.

“By the mid 90s with the economic environment changing again, James led the management buyout of Chancellors from Sun Alliance and it became the independent business it is today.

“With the merger of the ISVA and RICS, James became a leading member of the residential faculty of the RICS and worked on a number of committees within that organisation representing it in meetings with the Government and in TV news programmes.

“He also took a leading part in the establishment of the Ombudsman Scheme as regulatory requirements on the industry continued to increase, and stood at the forefront of campaigns to improve standards within the industry combined with ethical behaviour.

“In later years, as James took on the role of chairman of Chancellors, he focused on the training and development of staff with a continued focus and the maintenance of high standards of behaviour.

“James was well known to and respected throughout our industry and will be greatly missed by all who were fortunate to know him or to have learned from him.”

Peter Bolton King, global director of professionalism and ethics at the RICS, also paid tribute, saying: “All at RICS who knew James are saddened to hear of his death.

“For many years James played a major role for RICS on various residential working groups and boards.

“It was much appreciated that although James was supportive of RICS, he also challenged the status quo and ensured that thorough discussions were had before any decisions were made.

“His advice will be sorely missed by those who knew him and the industry as a whole. Our thoughts are with his family and colleagues at this time.”

Mark Hayward, chief executive of the NAEA, said the news was very sad, describing Scott-Lee as “a man very passionate about the business and never afraid to tell it exactly as it was”.

EYE would like to add our own sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.