Annex 3 - methodology for main task 3 (collection and analysis of intermedition and advisory fees)

• Author: Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (European Commission), Deloitte consortium, IPSOS, London Economics
• Pages: 72-73

72

Annex 3Methodology for Main Task 3 (Collection and analysis

of intermedition and advisory fees)

A3.1Sub-task 1: Collection of fees

Main Task 3 consisted of the collection and analysis of intermediation and advisory fees

for the buying/selling, renting/letting of properties, in all 28 Member States, Iceland and

Norway.

The exercise included the following activities:

1.Data collection:

oCollection of intermediation and advisory fees for each of the countries in

scope, expressed as a percentage of the price/rent of the properties;

oIdentification of time spent and costs incurredby consumersduring the

purchase or rent of a property such as taxes (i.e. tax/stamp duty, land register

fees), lawyer or notary fees, mortgage fees, or any other fee that identified

during the task; and

2.Data analysis:

oAnalyses of payments and fees.

To ensure a complete and high quality collection of payments and fees, the following step-

by-step approach was followed. A step-by-step approach is the ideal approach since it

allows to collect data through an iterative process.

Step 1 - Design of the inventory of fees

With a view to collect a comprehensive set of data on payments and fees, an inventory of

fees was designed and validated by the European Commission. The inventory of fees

included the following aspects:

•Fees paid by consumers to real estate agents;

•Other fees and charges paid by consumers for real estate transactions;

•Time spent by consumers dealing with real estate agents.

Step 2 - Data collection

The main tasks that allowed the collection of intermediation and advisory fees in all 28

Member States, Iceland and Norway were:

•Classification of existing national rules (Country fiches, Main Task 1.2);

•Consumer surveys (Main Task 2).

The classification of existing national rules (Task 1.2), performed through the

completion of the country fiches, enabled to collect fees set as mandatory by the national

legislation, i.e. fees incurred by consumers when renting or purchasing a property because

they are imposed by law and included in national legislative texts. In addition, not only an

indication of prices and fees was provided in the country fiches, but also relevant

explanations on the ways in which fees are applied.

Step 1 - Design of the

inventory of fees

Step 2 -Data collection

through country fiches and

the consumer survey

Step 3 - Integration of data

into an Excel matrix