Put faith in your lawyer - survey

New poll shows lawyers more trustworthy than estate agents

News, 25 March 2005

Lawyers are more popular than estate agents north of the border, according to a new survey.

Scots are less likely to trust estate agents than people elsewhere in the UK, with only 30.3% saying they trust them compared to 41.8% in the rest of the country, according to a report in "What House?" magazine.

Only 4.8% of Scottish buyers described their lawyers as "hopeless", compared to 10.9% elsewhere, and 85.8% said they had always, or usually, responded on time, compared to 75.8% elsewhere.

The survey also reveals that the Scottish system of selling homes seems to operate more efficiently than its English counterpart. Scottish properties sell faster, with 20% of people in Scotland saying they have sold property within three to four weeks, compared to 15.7% in other areas of the UK.

Sellers in England and Wales are much more likely to have taken more than six months to sell. Only 8.3% of Scottish respondents said they had taken six months to a year to sell, compared to 17.1% in the rest of the country.