Agents as a whole – and not necessarily those just involved with sales or in large corporates – are braced for a public backlash following this week’s BBC investigation.
That’s the view of agency entrepreneur Ian Macbeth.
BBC Panorama Lucy Vallance this week investigated claims that Connells was not acting in the best interest of customers and that online agency Purplebricks was putting pressure on staff to sell ‘add-on’ services and incentivised employees to persuade sellers to cut house prices.
During her time inside a Connells branch, Vallance captured footage and recordings that suggested buyers were being favoured based on whether they agreed to purchase Connells’ in-house mortgage and conveyancing services – a practice known as ‘conditional selling.’ Despite often receiving higher offers or cash bids, estate agents appeared to prioritise those buyers who committed to using these financial services.
Both Connells and Purplebricks denied unfair treatment of customers.
Macbeth, managing partner of Avocado Property, says: “While corporate executives prepare their responses, it is the customer-facing agents – negotiators, valuers, and consultants – who will be left to deal with the consequences of institutional decisions they never made.
“The truth is they were probably just doing what they were trained to do.”
Reflecting on his own experience of a similar incident at a different agency which was reported earlier in his career, he says: “In the main, we probably didn’t really want to do it. We knew it was morally incorrect, but we would face disciplinaries if we didn’t follow what was being driven from the top”.
He continues: “The industry has long operated on a high-pressure sales model, where staff are trained to follow strict scripts and upsell services to meet rigid targets. Failure to conform risks job security.
“Staff aren’t rogue agents – they’re following instructions, trying to earn a living, and often questioning the ethics of what they’re told to do. But when the PR storm hits, it’s the people on the ground who face the anger and scrutiny—while senior management retreats to boardrooms.”
But he warns that as media coverage intensifies, trust in agents is taking another battering.
“You sling mud at one and everybody gets covered. The story might name Connells and Purplebricks, but the public reads ‘estate agents’, and that paints us all with the same brush.
“This reputational contagion is not just damaging—it’s demoralising. The staff are just following instructions. They’re the ones who are going to have to deal with this, and it’s their commission, their stress, their mental health that will be hit. Everyone else just disappears into the background and waits for it to blow over.”
