I read with some sympathy Peter Morgan's letter regarding the contemptible behaviour of his local estate agent (see [2004] Gazette, 4 June, 14).


We have anecdotal evidence from several parts of the country of similar activities by estate agents designed, primarily, to achieve and maintain a central (if not controlling) place in the property transaction process at the expense of conveyancing solicitors.


The net result of such a trend would be, as Mr Morgan rightly implies, a diminution of the level of fees that solicitors could expect to achieve by means of conveyancing work.



However, all is not lost. The Solicitors Property Shop (SPS) - which now has more than 60 member firms of solicitors across England and Wales, offers an alternative model, and one that is designed by solicitors for solicitors in order to keep the conveyancing solicitor at the heart of the property transaction process and to provide a one-stop shop for clients wishing to sell or buy property. Visit our Web site at: www.sps.net.



The SPS concept operates on a simple principle - that while estate agents need solicitors, the reverse is not true.


The model offered to member firms provides the essential management and support infrastructure to allow solicitors to set up and run successfully a fully fledged estate agency business. More importantly, SPS provides a solution to the threat of reduced fees controlled by others, and provides clients with real choice. The SPS originated from the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC), founded and run by practising solicitors, which has for more than 30 years been working with law firms in east central Scotland to provide estate agency services to the public.


In our experience, solicitors are better at the estate agency business than so-called professional estate agents. Both clients and solicitors benefit from better-quality service, enhanced client relations, the service provided by a strictly regulated profession (as opposed to an unregulated one) and the ease and effectiveness of the one-stop shop concept.



Ron Smith, chief executive, ESPC (UK)