One of the most disgusting aspects of the current property slump is the crowing over the collapse of agencies and the loss of jobs.
It’s a crowing that doesn’t even bother with a thin disguise.
Take this article that appeared very recently in an American newspaper, apparently filed by a British news agency.
“Slick, well-dressed, and widely loathed, real estate brokers prospered in Britain's galloping property market for much of the past decade.
“But with prices drooping and sales volumes shrinking, the brokers, known here as estate agents, are having to work harder to cut their deals. Many have already lost their jobs.
“Some are even getting a little sympathy. But only a little.”
The piece quotes a gloomy report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research which suggests that 15,000 estate agency jobs will vanish in a year. According to one of the report’s authors: "Although unlikely to be the victims of the credit crunch that will garner the most sympathy, estate agents and others involved in managing real estate are likely to find the next 12 months particularly tough.”
It gets worse.
"No one sheds a tear when an agent is thrown out of work," said Peter Watts, who has covered property for Time Out London, according to the article. He felt that people "kind of take pleasure in watching estate agents hitting the ground with a bump”.
It’s sad, but it tallies with what an agent was telling me this week. Called by a national journalist, the agent said that the housing market was very badly affected and people were losing their jobs. “My heart bleeds,” was the sarcastic reply.
I realise none of this reflects well on my own profession (but journalists are right up there with agents and politicians in the public perception when it comes to trust and honesty), but why on earth should anyone get pleasure from seeing agents going under?
Estate agents are good employers of three distinct categories: local people, women and part-timers.
So, for any one to take pleasure out of seeing these types of people lose their livelihoods is truly baffling. You’re not exactly talking City traders on inflated salaries or people getting £24,000 in tax breaks for second homes simply because they live more than 20 miles from the office, in this particular case, Westminster.
Agents who have had to make people redundant, close offices or shut down whole businesses, have hardly made their decisions lightly. Some have done so after many years in agency; most have done everything in their power (and their own wallets) to keep things going.
Redundancy, for many people, is a very human disaster and never a reason to gloat.
As always, I’d be interested in your views. You can email me at: rosalind.renshaw@googlemail.com
by Rosalind Renshaw
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