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12 June 2008
Issue: 7325 / Categories: Features , Civil way , Procedure & practice
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Civil way: 13 June 2008

Sole agents: To charge for eternity? No bank account reconciliations secret funds

UNDESIRABLE JUDGMENT, GOOD FOR DEMOLITION
Things were going badly enough for estate agents without Foxtons Ltd v Bicknell and another [2008] EWCA Civ 419, [2008] All ER (D) 328 (Apr). That case will make their search for an effective linkage between their actions and an ultimate sale that much harder and, at the same time, will reduce the risk to the seller of being saddled with two sets of agents’ commission for the price of one property.

“A purchaser introduced by us…”
Sole agency terms (adopting the wording of the Estate Agents: Provision of Information Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/859), (the regulations) entitled Foxtons to commission where contracts were exchanged with “a purchaser introduced by us…” Foxtons said that meant a person who at some time in the future became a purchaser.

But hang on, say a client placed their property with sole agents, withdrew it and subsequently put it back on the market with other agents two years later and those agents

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Clarke Willmott—Kevin Joynes & Neil Gosling

Clarke Willmott—Kevin Joynes & Neil Gosling

Clarke Willmott bolsters housebuilder expertise in Birmingham

Carpmaels & Ransford—Kevin Cordina

Carpmaels & Ransford—Kevin Cordina

Firm adds former Simmons Simmons patent head to engineering and tech team

ACTAPS—Sally Goodger

ACTAPS—Sally Goodger

Freeths strengthens its voice in national disputes with ACTAPS committee appointment

NEWS
4PB chambers has announced the 2026 winner of its Alan Inglis Memorial Essay Prize, now in its third year
Murder could be split into first and second degrees, under Law Commission proposals for a historic overhaul of homicide offences
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Australian-style ban on social media for under-16s will be difficult to enforce, lawyers have warned
One in two women in law say their current working pattern is unsustainable for their long-term health, according to a report by the Next 100 Years project
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has highlighted a lack of safeguards where people use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help with legal problems
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