Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre - Edinburgh property for sale, Edinburgh property for rent

Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC)
Solicitor property selling has been a feature of the Scottish property market for decades; the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) has over 90% of the local estate agency market. Under the ESPC banner, solicitors throughout Edinburgh and the Lothian’s have been able to provide homebuyers and sellers with a convenient, cost-effective, hassle-free means to buy and sell property under one roof.

These Solicitor Property Centres (SPCs) use the display centre model for selling property. This means that the centre itself does no more than advertise property. It leaves all the actual estate agency-, conveyancing- and financial services work to the 700 member law firms. The only way that a seller can access the system is by going to a member firm; they then arrange for the property to be advertised at the centre and in its weekly newspaper. If buyers who find properties through the centre do not have their own solicitors, they can choose a solicitor from a list of other centre members. The property centres encourage members to compete with each other. Some solicitors have their own satellite property shops, while other solicitors often advertise properties in their receptions. With the help of a computer, solicitors can do everything the centre does from their offices.

Essentially clients can now get all the services they need from this 'one-stop shop' of conveyancing, estate agency and financial advisers. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) report in 1997 found that even though a 'complex monopoly situation' existed in favour of the SPCs, it did not operate against public interest. They discovered that consumers were very satisfied with the solicitors' services being offered..

The showrooms
Some 4500 properties are displayed at any one time in their showrooms and around 8000 people view them every week.