In the last days of 2005 the Rat and Mouse pointed readers to some comments by novelist Andrew Martin in the New Statesman, in which he nominated the estate agents of Highgate for eviction (part of an ill-spirited column in which various thinkers were given the opportunity to put the boot in wherever they liked). He's back... this time in the Telegraph... and with an interesting tale of a Highgate Society petition to limit the number of estate agents in the area. There's a suggestion that the final straw came when Parkheath got around a retail lease requirement by opening a shop selling scented candles on the ground floor and doing their business in the basement. According to Martin, not only have most of the agents themselves have signed the petition... as each tires of competing for business with 15 others... but Chris Underhill (of the venerable Prickett, Ellis and Underhill) was one of the petition's co-originators. Surely, logic suggests that when business is too thin on the ground and competition has driven down commissions to a point at which they no longer make renting premises in Highgate economical, the market will do some natural culling. In the meantime, I wonder if vendors are profiting from vastly reduced commissions? If you've a tale to tell, we'd love to hear it.