Today’s consumers have more trust in their Estate Agent – here’s why

It’s no secret that reports around consumers’ lack of trust in Estate Agents have seen the profession face scrutiny and challenges over the years.  

The level of trust is something we look at often and have a real passion for, as part of our commitment to modernising the industry and helping agents to deliver a great service to consumers.  

Despite everyone’s best efforts and some positive steps forward, it reinforces an uncomfortable truth. Negative past experiences, an outdated buying and selling experience and historic misconceptions have had a real impact.  

However, we’re pleased to see the tides starting to turn, and so many reputable Estate Agents are winning the hearts and minds of consumers, which we know is very deserved.  

In our latest consumer study, 51% of UK buyers and sellers say they trust Estate Agents to act in their best interests*.  

This positive view is matched by the latest Ipsos Veracity Index 2025**, which shows continuity and change in public trust towards leading professions in Britain. The 2025 results have Estate Agents ranking 8th for untrustworthiness, a vast improvement from 2016’s unenviable position of 3rd least trusted profession.  

Both of these data points suggest that traditional consumer perceptions of agents are continuing to shift for the better.  

We’re still committed to supporting agents to continue growing consumer trust. It’s part of why we’ve launched National Estate Agent Day, which is a new date in the UK awareness calendar (26th Feb) to celebrate and recognise the agents going above and beyond to drive standards and shift consumer perceptions on mass. 

Jamie Cooke, Co-Founder of iamproperty, said: “We work with incredible Estate Agents across the UK who are leading the charge and so it’s fantastic that our research showed that more than half of UK consumers now say they trust their Estate Agents. That’s significant progress for a profession long dogged by scepticism.  

“We launched National Estate Agent Day to celebrate all the brilliant but often unnoticed work that goes on. We should absolutely congratulate the majority of Estate Agents who are winning trust. At iamproperty we are proud to be supporting these agents.” 

So, what’s changed? Our research shows that respondents who reported high levels of trust shared three clear reasons – up front and honest communication, strong local market knowledge and putting clients’ interests before commission. Many respondents, particularly sellers, also pointed to positive past experiences. 

Trust was strongest in South West England and Wales (58%) and London and the South East (53%). However, London and the South East also recorded one of the highest levels of distrust (31%), suggesting opinion there is more polarised than in other regions in the UK. 

Although trust is growing, some still don’t trust agents (25%). In our study they reported bad experiences including lying, not being open and honest with consumers, providing inaccurate or misleading information, not listening to consumers’ needs, being pushy, unprofessional and having conflicts of interest such as dual representation or third-party commissions. 

Let’s see what our next consumer study brings – we’re optimistic for even more progress.   

*Carried out three times per year and most recently in February 2026 

**Ipsos Veracity Index 2025 https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/ipsos-veracity-index-2025