I've checked and checked... but no, this isn't an old April Fools story accidentally re-published six months later. It's genuine and heartfelt in its profound, astonishing, copper-bottomed stupidity. The idea's published in Introducer Today, and it's courtesy of RICS  member and experienced estate agent Peter Hendry, who appears to have first gone public with his brain-wave a few days ago, on his blog:

The government should now amend the Estate Agent Acts to give agents a responsibility to sell a house at, or near, the price they suggest it is worth. If they fail, within a previously agreed timescale (say 3 months), the seller should have the option of requiring that agent to buy the property.

WTF doesn't come close to doing this justice. His argument is that the system would be a test of the agent's confidence in his pricing. If he's got it right, he's nothing to worry about, because he should be able to sell the property on shortly, anyway. Commission from previous transactions (traditionally used to, er, pay for offices, expenses, wages etc) would cover the cost of temporarily forking out for properties that aren't shifting. He doesn't seem unduly concerned by the idea of property prices or transaction levels drifting downwards for economic reasons (unemployment, credit availability, interest rates) other than valuation game-play. Nor that this might mean an orgy of under-valuation. Or that it turns the business of estate agency into arguably the most risky and unattractive profession ever. Ah... maybe he has thought of that. Following the links from his blog, I notice that his current business is in agent-free house sales.

My favourite part of the blog post:


I’m doing a Tim Berners-Lee by putting these ideas into the public domain without wanting to gain from them financially, even if they are taken up Universally.

With so much in common, you and Tim ought to get together... shoot the breeze.

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