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Estate agents rank below bankers for trust. AI property tools might finish the job.

ended 03. November 2025

In the rush for ‘instant everything’, estate agents risk forgetting the one thing buyers still want: a human.

Estate agents already sit among the UK's least trusted professions - below even bankers. Now AI tools promise to 'revolutionise' the industry by editing photos, writing listings, handling viewings, and even conducting sales calls without human involvement. The question isn't whether this tech works. It's whether an industry with a 37% trust rating can afford to automate the few remaining touchpoints where humans still build confidence. Street.co.uk's new AI suite might be the most efficient way yet for agents to price themselves out of relevance entirely."

Once a manual photo-retouching process, AI can now remove bins from driveways, add furniture to empty rooms, write compelling listings and generate on-brand emails in seconds. It’s not just visuals that can be manipulated. Street users can add voice bots to hold natural phone conversations with potential buyers as they book viewings. It’s fast, impressive and cost-efficient, but it also risks editing out the very thing that gives estate agency its edge: human trust and a real person on the ground.

Speed sells software. But confidence sells homes.

A buyer doesn’t remember how quickly their call was answered; they remember whether they felt heard. An algorithm can’t detect a wavering voice or the look that says, “I’m not sure.”

Good tech loses its shine when used thoughtlessly. The temptation to replace more and more of the real agent to boost profit is immense. AI can help great agents become exceptional by removing grunt work so they can focus on the people in front of them in the negotiation. But replace the human relationship with too much chatbot and over-stylised imagery, and that trust fractures.

The future of property deals shouldn’t be fully automated. They should be richer. Homeowners want a smooth system powered by agents who know when to pick up the phone themselves.

AI systems processing private calls, emails and financial data, transparency isn’t just about images, it’s about how personal information is stored, used and protected.

A good agent doesn’t just sell homes or rent properties. They translate huge life decisions into perfect addresses. AI can enhance the process, but trust still closes the deal.

We’d like your views:

  • When AI edits property photos or writes listings, should buyers be told?
  • If machines handle more of the sales process, what happens to trust?
  • Can empathy ever be automated, or is that still a human monopoly?
  • Are we trading “authentic” for “instant” in how we sell and buy big-ticket items?
  • Where should the line be drawn between helpful automation and hollow experience?

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Colette Mason
AI Ethics Consultant at Clever Clogs AI
Buying or selling a property isn’t a transaction. It’s a trust exercise.

Homeowners and investors don’t just want speed. They want certainty, reassurance and honesty. AI can enhance presentation and streamline processes, but it can’t read the subtle hesitations that make or break a deal.

Negotiation isn’t about information, it’s about intuition. The best agents know when to push, when to pause, and when to protect their client’s confidence, instincts no model can replicate.

With new AI transparency rules on the regulatory horizon, disclosure will shift from ethical choice to legal duty. Agents who are open about how and when they use AI will win the trust battle early, and keep it.
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Mitali Deypurkaystha
AI Governance Strategist & CMO at AISensa
As an AI strategist, I welcome platforms that genuinely save time and streamline workflows. The caveat sometimes is that these efficiencies can come at the cost of human connection if implemented with a tech-first mindset instead of human-first. However, when it comes to estate agents, this issue is flipped on its head.

Only two years ago, in 2023, Ipsos ranked estate agents among the UK’s five least-trusted professions, even below bankers, with only 28% of people saying they trust them. If public trust is already so low, many home buyers and sellers may not mind AI replacing parts of the process normally undertaken by estate agents. The real warning is for agents themselves: unless they rebuild trust and prove their human value, they risk automating their own extinction. Could this be the wake-up call for this industry to turn around its reputation?
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Editor
Darryl Dhoffer
Founder at The Mortgage Geezer
The average agent's response to AI is pure denial, shouting, "You can't automate local knowledge!" while still using two-year-old comparable sales.
They cling to the belief that their value lies in their emotional intelligence and "gut feeling," qualities rarely deployed unless a large commission is involved. They ignore that AI delivers the one thing they struggle with: unbiased truth.
By classifying AI as mere "admin support," agents cling to the emotional mess of a home sale as proof of their necessity. They are the human element desperately guarding the chaos.
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Editor
Rob Mansfield
Independent Financial Advisor at Rootes Wealth Management
Estate agents need to focus on who they're there to serve. Is it purely the seller, in which case AI might eat them for breakfast. Or is it to match buyers and sellers guiding them through life changing decisions? The agents experience and confidence can have immense value and it's unlikely that AI will replace that. The smart agents will be using AI to mean they can spend more time talking with clients.