Lone Working in Estate Agency

Estate agents are at considerable risk of violence and aggression on a day-to-day basis, as they engage with the public in enclosed properties. Yet a recent survey carried out across 1,000 UK estate agents found that over half of them had no safety procedures in place to protect staff carrying out viewings or valuations alone.

• 30% of the Estate Agents questioned had been the victims of verbal abuse
• Almost a quarter felt their safety was being compromised
• 53% didn’t have a lone worker policy in place
• 16% had been intimidated
• More than one in ten had been threatened while conducting viewings

Statistically, women are more at risk than men when it comes to workplace safety concerns. This risk is magnified by working alone: as estate agents frequently do while showing prospective buyers and renters around empty properties.

People often think that it’s not going to happen to them, or it wouldn’t happen in the area they work, but the truth is that it can happen to anyone at any time. Therefore, it’s essential for female estate agents to be as best prepared as possible:

1. Trust your instincts – if something feels wrong, it probably is.
2. Share your schedule – let somebody know where you are at all times and who you’ll be meeting.
3. Trail behind – always let potential clients lead when walking through a property.
4. Create a safety plan – implement practices to protect your personal safety (e.g. have a distress code).
5. Take a self-defence class – don’t wait for an incident to happen to prioritise learning how to protect yourself.