A growing gap has emerged between what estate agents promote and what consumers actually value when choosing an agency, according to the latest edition of The Voice of the Agent, which argues the sector may need to rethink how it defines professionalism and earns trust.
Released by We Are Unchained, Part Five of the research series – Professionalism & The Consumer – combines industry and consumer data to examine qualifications, trust, regulation, consumer behaviour and the changing sources of competitive advantage in estate agency.
Its conclusion is direct: while professionalism is increasingly expected by both agents and consumers, the sector has yet to consistently embed it into everyday practice.
Simon Leadbetter, founder of We Are Unchained and curator of The Voice of the Agent, said the industry continues to treat professionalism as an emerging issue when consumers already assume minimum standards should exist.
He argued that as technology increasingly commoditises listings, search and access to information, the commercial value of agents is shifting away from access and towards trust, reassurance and expertise.
One of the report’s strongest findings centres on qualifications. According to the research, 74% of agents believe formal qualifications should be required to operate in estate and lettings agency, while 75% of consumers agree.
The report suggests that level of alignment means the debate is no longer whether professionalism matters, but whether the sector’s structure is keeping pace with changing expectations.
It also points to international comparisons, noting that the UK remains unusual among major markets in maintaining relatively low barriers to entry alongside lower fee structures than countries including the US, Australia, France, Japan and Canada, where licensing and continuing professional development are more widely established.
Trust remains another challenge.
Drawing on Ipsos-MORI Veracity Index data, the report notes that only 32% of the public generally trust estate agents to tell the truth. Yet the picture improves significantly among consumers with recent experience of working with agents, where 61% said they trusted them to some extent to act in their best interests, rising to 65% among homeowners and private tenants.
According to the report, that creates a commercial contradiction: consumers often trust individual agents while remaining sceptical about the profession overall.
The research also challenges some long-held assumptions about what wins instructions.
Factors commonly emphasised by agencies – including office presence, brochures, video marketing and competing on the lowest fee – ranked behind more practical measures linked to confidence and service quality.
Communication, responsiveness, local credibility, guidance and perceived competence emerged as the strongest drivers of consumer choice.
Another finding likely to focus minds is brand recall. Consumers typically remembered only a little over three agency brands operating in their local market, reinforcing the importance of consistent reputation and visibility.
For agents, the report’s message is that differentiation may increasingly come less from marketing assets and more from demonstrating expertise, reliability and trust at every stage of the customer journey.
