The Competition & Markets Authority has disqualified two Berkshire-based estate agents for six-and-a-half years for forming an illegal price fixing cartel.

The CMA says that Stephen Jones and Neil Mackenzie were directors at Richard Worth and Michael Hardy from September 2008 to May 2015.

Along with two other local estate agents, they conspired to set minimum commission rates for the sale of residential properties in Wokingham, Winnersh, Crowthorne, Bracknell and Warfield.

The cartel exchanged confidential information on pricing, meaning that homeowners were not able to shop around for the best commission rate, thus denying them the best possible deal when selling a property.

Three of the four estate agents, the two above plus Prospect, were fined £600,000 in December last year.

The fourth estate agent, Romans, was spared the fine for bringing the illegal activity to the attention of the authorities and cooperated with the investigation.

CMA executive director of Enforcement Michael Grenfell says: “Selling your home can be a stressful and expensive experience, and one that shouldn’t be made harder by estate agents conspiring to cheat homeowners out of the best deal.

“Company directors have an important responsibility to make sure their firms don’t take part in this kind of anti-competitive behaviour.

“Today’s disqualifications should send a clear message to the sector – stay on the right side of the law or face the consequences.”