On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:42:43 +0100, "crofter" wrote:

is there anything to stop someone seeing a house, then going direct to the
seller, and arranging a private (comm. free, on both sides) sale?

Yes. Typically the contract a person signs when listing his home with
the sellers agaen prohibits this. If it does occur, the listing agent
can sue for hsi portion.