Two major estate agencies have been accused of breaking industry codes of conduct during a BBC Panorama TV investigation to be broadcast this evening.

The investigation, to be aired at 8pm, features undercover reporter Lucy Vallance (main image, inset) working as a negotiator at Connells in Abingdon in Oxfordshire (pictured), during which she reveals evidence including recorded phone calls, that the company’s employees are involved in conditional selling.

This typically sees buyers who take out mortgages and other products provided by estate agencies favoured over those who do not, regardless of the offer price.

The programme has also spoken to a whistleblower at Purplebricks, who alleges that the firm at one point incentivised its staff via a commission scheme to “get sellers to drop their house prices” after initially over-valuing them and has been putting staff under pressure to sell ‘add-on’ services.

Vallance spent six weeks working at Connells, the BBC reveals, during which she found evidence that the senior branch manager favoured prospective buyers, if they were planning to take out Connells in-house services, like conveyancing or mortgages, because it made more money for the company.

Which? criticism

Consumer organisation Which? also features in the programme, commenting on its allegations of conditional selling. Its Consumer law expert Lisa Webb, saying: “This absolutely should be against the law and something that

“I think these estate agencies really ought to be investigated by the authorities for because this should not be happening.”

Connells has released a statement ahead of the programme, saying it is, “committed to treating all customers and prospective buyers fairly” while Purplebricks has told the BBC that price reductions were once a target for rewarding staff, but that is no longer the case and it does not overvalue properties to win instructions.

The programme also explores the reason why agencies like Connells get involved in conditional selling.

The BBC discovered that agencies can be paid up to £10,000 in additional ‘add on’ services including mortgages, compared to a national sales fee average of approximately £4,000.

The programme follows comments by both FT Advisor and the HomeOwners Alliance calling for conditional selling to be outlawed.

Undercover Estate Agent can we watched on BBC1 tonight at 8pm, except in Northern Ireland.