These are desperate times for anyone with a property to sell. As the market continues inexorably downward, the number of buyers is drying up – property transactions in May were down by a third compared with the same time last year, according to figures from HM Revenue & Customs.

The National Association of Estate Agents, meanwhile, reports that the average time a property takes to sell rose to almost 13 weeks in April, up from an average of 5½ weeks one year earlier, while increasing numbers of deals are falling through between offer and completion – almost 13% of them, against just 8% this time last year.

So, what can a would-be seller do to help the process along? The key, claim Tim Jackson and Eli Robinson, is managing your estate agent. The pair, who used to be branch managers for Foxtons – which, with its branded Minis and ambitious valuations, became synonymous with the decade’s property boom – have just set up Property Stress Relief, a company, based in north and northwest London, that promises to do just that – at a price.

House been on the market for months? Jackson and Robinson will tell you where you’re going wrong. Can’t face the hassle of trying to sell? They will take over the whole process, from finding the right estate agent to signing you up with a solicitor. Their fee is 1% of the final sale: if it doesn’t sell, they don’t make anything.

“People are lost out there,” Jackson says. “Estate agents are flooded with stock they can’t sell and every property is getting lost in a black hole of oversupply. Agents are not advising people to drop their price because they’re too scared clients will take their properties away. They’re just twiddling their thumbs, saying, ‘It’s really bad. Hopefully, things will pick up soon.’ It’s a nightmare if you’re trying to sell.”

The idea for the company was born out of Secureasale.co.uk , a company the pair started in March, which offers to buy property from desperate sellers for 80%-90% of market value within 48 hours of a visit. “Most people we see aren’t in a position where they would accept the offers we make,” Jackson explains. “But the reason they called us in the first place is that they can’t sell – so we thought, ‘Why not help them to sell it for as much as they can?”

If Jackson and Robinson get involved at the beginning of a sale, they will advise on what should be done to the property (basic repairs and so on), interview prospective agents and manage them on behalf of the client. They then guide the process through to completion, including advising on solicitors. Clients sign up for a set period, usually eight weeks: if the property hasn’t sold within that time, they can extend or walk away.

In cases where the house has been on the market for a while, the pair will shake things up a bit. This usually involves changing the marketing: taking new photographs, for example, or making sure it is featured in a local magazine or in a prime position on a website. They will ring the agent daily, pushing for viewings and getting feedback. If the price needs to be lowered, they will talk to the client.

Do they pass on difficult sales to their other business? “If people decide not to use Secureasale, we will pitch Property Stress Relief,” Jackson says. “But we wouldn’t do it the other way. That would be unethical.”

Michelle Fine, an artist and designer, has just signed up the pair to manage the sale of her two-bedroom property in Willesden, northwest London. So far, they have advised her to carry out basic repairs, recommended a builder to do the job and introduced her to four local agents – two of whom she will choose to market the property.

“The last property I sold, I had 11 offers fall through,” says Fine, 50. “I didn’t want to go through the hassle again, so I rang them. Their energy and care have been amazing.” Fine’s property has been valued at about £350,000, which means she will pay Jackson and Robinson £3,500 on top of agents’ fees if it sells. As far as she’s concerned, this will be money well spent. “So far, the process has been hassle-free,” she says.

Sellers may be grateful for all the help they can get – but shouldn’t a good agent be doing all this anyway? And what do they think about having another layer of intermediaries to deal with? Although Jackson assures me many welcome the idea, the ones I speak to are scathing.

“If you’ve got a decent agent in the first place, this service should be entirely unnecessary,” says Simon Edwards, a director in the Hampstead office of Savills. “A good one should be doing all that for you. If they’re not, you should switch.”

Grant Alexson, head of Knight Frank’s north London branch, agrees. “If an agent isn’t capable, you shouldn’t use them,” he says. “And, on the basis that people moan about agents’ fees in the first place, why would they pay an additional sum? Do you really want to pay 1% for someone to organise you to be organised?” Employing intermediaries can hinder building a relationship with the agent, he adds, and means you lose control of what is being said about the property.

Ultimately, in the current market, if a property is not shifting, it is often because it is too expensive. If agents are scared to tell clients their house will not fetch as much as it would have done last year, then they are not doing their job.

Nevertheless, Jackson and Robinson feel they are playing a useful role. "If agents were selling the stock they have at the moment, we wouldn't have a business," Jackson says. "But agents are struggling - and any help they can get is appreciated."

Property Stress Relief, 020 7117 6660, www.propertystressrelief.co.uk

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