Homeowners could pay over £303m in estate agents' fees this year

West Yorkshire is among the ten regions seen to be paying the largest amount of fees to estate agents.

Southern counties dominate the top ten highest fee payers, as might be expected, but West Yorkshire and the West Midlands join the top ten tally, with West Yorkshire handing out £6,726,050 so far this year.The highest fees paid are in Surrey, amounting to £13,303,190. South Yorkshire's fees reach a sum of £3,214,148 in comparison.Research by online estate agent eMoov.co.uk indicates homeowners in England and Wales could be out of pocket by as much as £303.6m in estate agent fees so far in 2017.With the online sector squeezing the high-street proposition where both fee and service are concerned, the traditional sector has lowered its average standard fee from 1.6 per cent plus vat, to 1.3 per cent including vat.Using this lower fee, eMoov looked at the number of properties that have completed so far this year, and what they have completed for, before applying the 1.3 per cent charge to see how much homeowners have already paid to sell their property.eMoov also accounted for the online share, which accounts for 5.51 per cent of the market, removing this from the total fees charged.The research shows that so far in 2017, £26bn worth of property has already been sold, equating to £303.6m in high-street commission.CEO of eMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, said: "Despite the high-street sector being pressured to lower their commission to an average fee of 1.3 per cent including VAT, due to growing competition by online and hybrid agents, this research demonstrates the eye-watering amount of money that’s still being paid due to the outdated practice of charging based on a property’s value. "Of course, not all agents charge as much but there are many agents that will still charge more, and with hybrid and online agents charging a fixed fee with a now proven service track record, it remains to be seen why you should pay more to sell your house because it is of a higher value."The only silver lining to this research is that in years gone by, this figure would have been a lot higher."Although the online and hybrid sector still only accounts for 5.51 per cent of the market, it still represents a considerable saving.”