Peer says university estate agency degrees ‘not real courses’

Estate agents have voiced their frustration at comments by a member of the Lords who has said “estate agency degrees” are a “con” and not true academic study.

Baroness Fox of Buckley (main image), who is a former BBC journalist, Brexiteer and now Reform UK supporter, better known as Claire Fox before being ennobled in 2020, told fellow peers during a Lords debate that studying property at a university was not what such institutions were for.

By ‘estate agency degrees’ she appears to be referring to courses such as the University if Westminster’s Real Estate BSc Honours degree or Birmingham University’s BSc (Hons) in Real Estate.

Disregard for higher education

Following her comments, Nathan Emerson (pictured), CEO of Propertymark says: “It’s frustrating to see this disregard for higher education.

“From the outside looking in, it’s probably easy for others to assume that being an estate or letting agent ‘isn’t a tasking or demanding job’ but that is far from the reality.

“We accept that there are other routes to education for estate and letting agents, but our sector is now becoming an attractive career aspiration for younger people, and with that should come options for those who wish to obtain a higher education.

Trust, respect and knowledge

“Buying a home is one of the most expensive and stressful things a person will do in their lifetime, and the job of an agent to facilitate that requires a lot of trust, respect and knowledge to ensure legal requirements and customer satisfaction are met.

“We have long believed that regulation is ideally needed to even out the playing field and create a fairer and consistent profession and would advise MPs and other Government officials to do their research on the responsibilities of an agent before making rash remarks regarding the standards aspiring students and agents may wish to uphold.”