The IEA last published tariffs in 2002



The Institute of Estate Agents is no longer publishing recommended tariffs of professional fees and commissions. IEA president Bill Rawson says that, after taking legal advice, the organisation's national board - which used to publish the tariffs on behalf of the eight regional institutes - made the decision in the light of Competition Commission crackdowns on professional and other associations which publish tariffs. The national board decision was communicated to the regional institutes to pass on to their members. The IEA last published tariffs in 2002. The Competition Commissions regard tariffs in general as a form of price-fixing, and therefore as anti-competitive. During the past year, it has conducted several high-profile investigations into organisations such as law societies and medical associations. "Our decision was well-timed," says Rawson, "for indeed the Competition Commission have now begun an investigation into the tariff books which we published in the past. We and our regional institutes have provided the Commission with the information which they asked for, and we await their findings." Rawson says the decision not to re-publish the tariffs should not be blown out of proportion, and nor should it be seen as a green light for estate agents to charge exorbitant commissions. "We must bear in mind," he says, "that the tariffs were never anything more than recommendations - guidelines if you like. They were not compulsory, and no attempt has ever been made to enforce them or to check up on what estate agents are actually charging. "We must also bear in mind that, since 1993, it has been a punish