Estate agents were paid £3.2bn in fees in 2013 on the back of the soaring housing market, new research shows.
The research, from housesimple.co.uk, took the average fee of 1.75%, the total number of properties sold, and the average selling price, and calculated a collective £3.2bn was paid.
The largest amount was paid in London (£599m), followed by Bristol (£49m), Manchester (£32m), Liverpool (£28m), Birmingham (£27m), Nottingham (£23m) and Leeds (£22m).
Alex Gosling, managing director of Housesimple.co.uk, said: “In London particularly, where properties in many areas are selling themselves, there is no need to be paying such high fees to sell a property.”
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
