Residential estate agency services in Berkshire
The CMA found that 4 estate agents breached the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act 1998 and imposed fines totalling £605,519.
Timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 23 January 2020 | Publication of non-confidential version of the infringement decision |
| 17 December 2019 | Infringement decision issued |
| 15 November 2019 | Draft Penalty Statement issued to non-settling party |
| 24 and 25 October 2019 | Settlement agreed with two parties |
| June 2019 to September 2019 | Written and oral representations on the statement of objections |
| 13 June 2019 | Statement of objections issued |
| February 2019 | Investigation continuing (further update by the end of June 2019) |
| September 2018 | Decision taken to proceed with the investigation (further update by the end of February 2019) |
| March 2018 to September 2018 | Initial investigation: information gathering, including issuance of formal or informal information requests and reviewing parties’ responses |
Change log
The following changes have been made to the case timetable since it was first published in February 2018:
| Date of change | Reason for change | Change made to timetable |
|---|---|---|
| 13 June 2019 | Additional time needed to undertake further investigatory steps | Date of further update changed from April 2019 to June 2019 |
Non-confidential infringement decision
23 January 2020: The CMA has published a non-confidential version of the decision in this case.
- (23.1.20)
Infringement decision
17 December 2019: The CMA issued a decision finding that 4 estate agents operating in the Berkshire area breached UK competition law by agreeing to fix and maintain a minimum level of commission fees to be charged for the provision of traditional residential estate agency services between at least 1 September 2008 and 19 May 2015.
Fines totalling £605,519 have been imposed on (a) Michael Hardy & Company (Wokingham) Limited and Geocharbert UK Ltd (together ‘Michael Hardy’); (b) Prospect Estate Agency Limited and Prospect Holdings (Reading) Limited (together ‘Prospect’); and (c) Richard Worth Limited (in administration) and Richard Worth Holdings Limited (together ‘Richard Worth’).
The Romans Group (UK) Limited and its parent company Romans 1 Limited (together ‘Romans’) has not been fined as it was the first undertaking to confess its participation in the arrangement under the CMA’s leniency programme and co-operated with the CMA’s investigation.
- Press release: Estate agents fined over half a million pounds for price fixing (17.12.19)
Settlement
24 and 25 October 2019: 2 estate agents, Michael Hardy and Prospect respectively, admitted to participating in an illegal cartel in relation to the provision of traditional residential estate agency services.
They have agreed to pay fines totalling £411,608. This includes a 10% settlement discount to reflect the resource savings to the CMA generated by the companies’ admissions and their agreement to a streamlined administrative procedure. It also includes a 50% reduction to Prospect’s penalty under the CMA’s leniency programme.
Statement of objections
13 June 2019: The CMA has today issued a statement of objections alleging that 4 estate agents operating in the Berkshire area breached competition law by taking part in a cartel agreement to fix and maintain a minimum level of commission fees to be charged for the provision of traditional residential estate agency services.
The allegations concern (a) Michael Hardy; (b) Prospect; (c) Richard Worth; and (d) Romans.
- Press release: 4 Berkshire estate agents accused of illegally fixing fees (13.6.19)
Case Information
The investigation concerns a suspected infringement(s) of Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).
The investigation has been launched on the basis of information received following the decision of the CMA in a previous investigation in the sector: Residential estate agency services in the Burnham-on-Sea area.
No assumption should be made at this stage that any infringement has occurred. The recipients of the statement of objections will now have an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The CMA will consider any representations it receives before any decision is taken as to whether competition law has in fact been infringed.
Changes to the timing of original entries in the case timetable will be made where the estimated timing in the original timetable changes.
Contacts
Assistant Project Directors
Victoria Keenan (victoria.keenan@cma.gov.uk)
Helen Cameron (helen.cameron@cma.gov.uk)
Project Director
Christiane Kent (christiane.kent@cma.gov.uk)
Senior Responsible Officer
Howard Cartlidge (howard.cartlidge@cma.gov.uk)
Last updated 23 January 2020 + show all updates
-
Non-confidential infringement decision published.
-
Infringement decision issued.
-
Statement of objections issued.
-
Case timetable and Senior Responsible Officer updated.
-
First published.