Figures from estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, shows the average estate agent fee in Great Britain is 1.51%, up 0.26% when compared to this time last year.
Based on the current average house price, that means homesellers are paying £4,154 to sell their homes.
The highest percentage fee
Of course, in some parts of the property market, this fee comes in much higher, and Kensington and Chelsea is home to the highest percentage fee at 2.32%.
The borough is also home to the highest monetary sum based on the current average house price, with homesellers in the borough forking out a hefty £32,430 in estate agency fees when selling.
London accounts for eight of the 15 highest percentage selling fees.
However, Blaenau Gwent (2.14%), West Devon (1.95%), Middlesbrough (1.94%), Breckland (1.9%), Medway (1.88%) and Neath Port Talbot (1.87%) also make the list.
The highest fee paid
London also accounts for the vast majority of the 15 highest fees in a monetary sense, with homeowners paying between £8,978 and £32,430.
Elmbridge is the only area outside of London to make the list with the average fee to sell costing £8,978.
The highest annual increase in percentage fee
Hambleton has seen the most substantial increase in percentage fee since last year, up 0.6% from 0.83% to 1.43%. South Ayrshire (+0.58%), Rugby (+0.57%), Hartlepool (+0.52%) and Hart (+0.52%) have also seen some of the most significant increases.
The highest annual increase in fee paid
Kensington and Chelsea is not only home to the highest fees, but the area has seen the most substantial increase since last year in terms of money paid.
Homesellers are now paying £8,048 than they would have a year ago along with those selling in Westminster (+£6,695), City of London (+£3,598), Hackney (+£3,105) and Hammersmith and Fulham (+£3,002).
Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:
“With the market starting to pick up after months on end of Brexit uncertainty, exacerbated by a total pandemic lockdown, it’s only natural that fees will also see a slight lift, particularly given the financial turmoil some agents may now be in.
“Of course, this percentage-based fee means that those lucky enough to have a considerably more expensive house to sell will pay out a fair chunk more for the pleasure.
“However, the average fee remains far more palpable than the three and a half per cent that used to be the norm.
Homesellers are also starting to realise the vital role estate agents play in the property selling process and, given the tougher market conditions, they will probably find the fees much better value for money than they may have previously.”
Hmmm – but in my experience, agents load the 0.25% GetAgent fee onto their commission when listed with these guys which would suggest average is 1.26%. Certainly true in our area.
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Nonsense – quoted fees will be loaded for the ‘kickback’ requested for what will inevitably be a low quality lead.
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So many questions, so little time…but here’s a few that immediately spring to mind…. What is the fee percentage based on? If at the point of listing then the actual percentage on completion is obviously not necessarily the same. Why would fees be more “palpable” (defined as “able to be touched or felt”? Maybe “palatable” makes more sense? Where did an old norm of three and a half per cent come from?! Are these figures inclusive or exclusive of VAT? Assuming the data only includes GetAgent instructions (which are often “loaded” as previous Eye readers have observed), then the volumes could be so small as to slew the figures massively, possibly rendering them meaningless in some cases. In the City of London borough, for example, there were only 5 completions in the pre-pandemic month of January 2020. It would be helpful to know the actual property volumes this report is based on to assess its validity. Answers appreciated…
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Great example here of reading the comments first then realising doing this has saved you the time of reading the article. Thanks Julian.
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You’re most welcome. Still hoping to get the answers!
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They approached us with an award last week……best agent, shortest time on market and highest percentage of asking price…..great right? No….
The only way to promote the award is to add their widget/award banner on our website, which once clicked takes the client to their site to book the free val, from where GA want to claim 0.25% of the fee from someone who came to us directly. Genius.
Not falling for that one.
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Well done for not fooling for it, sadly some agents will and lose a bucket load of income.
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Whilst I think these figures are incorrect; it is inevitable that agency fees will go up.
Lockdown has shown many agents were running around like headless chickens, busy fools, all for 1%. Or less.
Sell 75 houses a year at 1% OR sell 50 houses well at 1.5%
SAME money at year end. Less cost. More happy customers!
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Snow chance of 1.5% happening near us.
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We have started lifing our fees recently after they dipped. Always ask. Some will see the value some will negotiate. Better than just accepting 1%
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I can remember many years ago not being allowed to take a listing at less than 2% and get an upfront marketing pack fee (oh the joys of corporate estate agency). Now you can question the morals all you like of upfront fees, that’s for another comments section. The point I am making is that even with that prerequisite (even) I still managed to list at over 50% of what I valued and my more skilled peers were in the late 60s. Fee is about mindset and a belief in what you are doing and how that customer will be looked after once they sign your contract. If they get that vibe from you the customer will do business if they don’t they won’t see your value and it is a race to the bottom.
HAVE BELIEF IN WHAT YOU DO
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Top tip. Drop GetAgent if your using them. The more you use them, the more they will spend on advertising in your area…. which means more .25% fees to them. Instead, put your own ads on google and generate your own valuations at a fraction of the cost.
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Any agents taking leads from this shower need to take a serious hard look at their own business.
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Averages are always a bit tricky.
Median is better with an ascending or descending list as it reduces the impact of the outliers that skew an average.
Also, rarely is the average a true representation of anything. A simple analogy is that the average height of the four people in our house is 168cms. The individual heights are 180cm, 170cm, 172cm and 150cms. None of us is actually 168cm tall.
If we included Wilma the cat at 30cm it really screws the average but supports the median!
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I thought everybody bumped the fees up with GA as punishment for daring to not come to us direct….
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