The rules on estate agents (and on all other agents) are strict: the agent must not obtain any fee or payment without the express consent of the client.

This approach was confirmed in a recent case involving a footballer and his sports agent. The agreement covered a two-year period, with the agent receiving 10% of the footballer’s salary. But, after a year the footballer learned that his club had paid the agent £3,000 for securing a work permit for him. As such, it was a secret deal and thus gave rise to the possibility of conflict of interest (the agent might have been tempted to negotiate a lower wage for the footballer if he knew that he was also going to receive £3,000 for getting the work permit). In a situation such as this it does not matter whether the agent is acting improperly, or whether the client (ie the footballer) is losing out. What matters is that all payments must have been consented to by the client. The end result in this particular case was that the footballer could recover both the £3,000 and the 10% commission paid to the agent. As such, the case neatly illustrates the strictness of the rules applying to agents – including estate agents.