Town up in arms as council goes to an outside agent

Everyone hates estate agents, don’t they?

Well, that’s certainly not the case in Helston, Cornwall (population 9,780) where they love theirs.

Indeed, a minor scandal has erupted over the choice of an agent outside the town and it is making headline news in the delightfully named Falmouth Packet newspaper.

Locals are furious that the town council has gone to one of those dratted foreigners, an agent in Penzance 12 miles away, to arrange the auction of its old community centre.

At a meeting of the council, a member of the public, Peter Brewer, asked councillors: “Why are you using an estate agent in Penzance to market Penrose Road, when there are six in Helston that are perfectly good?”

Town clerk Chris Dawson said a Penzance agent was chosen for impartiality.

He said: “There is a lot of interest in that building and it was decided, to be as impartial as possible, the estate agent should be out of Helston.”

To which Mr Brewer replied: “There are agents in Helston looking for business. You are taking it out of town.”

It’s certainly the first time we have heard of impartiality counting more than local knowledge when it comes to choosing an estate agent.

All the same, good luck to NCT Estate Agents who have set a guide price of £195,000 for the property, with the sale due to take place on September 23 at an hotel in Redruth – a distant nine miles from Helston.