ELAA-UK says ‘No’ to online only agencies

Following a recent review of its membership policy The Estate & Letting Agents Association UK (ELAA-UK) will be continuing their policy of not accepting online only estate or letting agents.

The reason for not accepting applications from online only estate agents is because ELAA-UK does not believe that online only agencies can offer the same level of service or real value for money to consumers as traditional estate/letting agents.

This decision comes as a number of online agencies have applied for membership in recent months however The Estate & Letting Agents Association UK has deemed there services to be less than satisfactory for membership of ELAA-UK.

ELAA-UK have reviewed a number of transactions and market feedback, together with data regarding sales and lettings in the UK by both online only and traditional style agents. As a result of these findings the association came to the conclusion that the level of service, customer satisfaction and value for money offered by online only agents did not meet the standards expected from a member of ELAA-UK.

ELAA-UK, creator of the hashtags #AppreciateEstateAgents and #AppreciateLettingAgents, has recently been promoting the work that traditional or high street agents do via a number of marketing campaigns.

The simple message that they share to consumers is, high street estate agents don’t simply list properties on portals, there is a lot of work that gets done behind the scenes to ensure that you are getting a personalised service from a good traditional estate agent. ELAA-UK is Informing consumers that a good estate agent can actually get sellers tens of thousands of pounds more for their property than an online only agent.

A spokesperson for ELAA-UK said ‘in addition to the online agencies that have applied for membership we have carried out extensive research into a number of other online agencies and this research in combination with the reviews and opinions of our customers has led us to the decision that we shall not be approving membership for online only agencies for the foreseeable future’.

‘We would be happy to review this policy if an online only agency could satisfy us that they provide a level of service and value for money to consumers similar to a personalised high street experience.’

‘You cannot simply get a good value from listing on the net’, Value for money is not just about the fees that are charged, but rather the value that a personal experience can provide for their customers (home sellers and landlords). To ascertain the real value for money ELAA-UK looks at not just the fees charged but also the prices achieved for a sale or let, the service provided and the customer satisfaction received.

ELAA-UK has seen a surge in the number of applications from Estate and Letting agents in recent months and says that agents are realising that they must do more to stay ahead of both online agents and their competitors.

Membership to The Estate and Letting Agents Association UK is probably the best way to show consumers that you are a trusted, approved agent and are dedicated to providing a higher standard of service.

To read more about this article or to learn more about The Estate and Letting Agents Association UK visit their website at www.ELAA-UK.org