LAST September estate agent Simon Scott-Nelson celebrated. The 33-year-old had been headhunted by Knight Frank’s Exeter office to sell expensive waterfront properties in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.

This was a dream job for the West Country boy. Knight Frank is one of the best estate-agency groups in the country and would pay its new recruit well.

Scott-Nelson enrolled his baby daughters — aged two and 12 months — into a private school. He and his wife discussed selling the family home. After all, he could afford a larger house.

Their family home is now up for sale, but the plans have changed dramatically. Scott-Nelson was made redundant four weeks ago. Now, instead of upgrading, he is seeking to downsize the family home.

“The agency thought that the people we were selling to had made their money and weren’t so affected by market conditions, but it slowed down. I suppose people don’t want to spend £3m or £4m on a second home when they could wait and get it cheaper,” he said.

Transactions have fallen sharply over the past six months and four people were made redundant last month. When he received word of his redundancy, Scott-Nelson said he felt it would provide the impetus he needed to do his own thing. Within days, however, that feeling was replaced by fear. “With a family and a house, it’s scary. I don’t know where I’ll be in six months and that’s worrying,” he said.

His ultimate goal is to set up his own estate agency, but the market won’t allow that for at least another 18 months. With a freeze on hiring in the property sector — apart from in lettings — he has to look elsewhere.

“The thing is that in the property sector you have a lot of skills, skills that can be transferred to other sectors, but it’s just sales and there’s no real way of writing that down or putting it on a CV,” he said.

Recruitment would be a good alternative, but not a viable idea because they are not hiring either. Anthony Hesse, managing director of the recruitment firm Property Personnel, said that about 80% of candidates registering with it are leaving the industry.

“There is no obvious route,” he said. “Some take sales jobs in other sectors. Others are looking for associated property jobs in housing associations or selling home information packs.”

With only three months of severance pay, Scott-Nelson does not have much time to find a good job but if he does return to the property sector, it will be on his own terms. “I don’t ever want to be made redundant again, and certainly not when I am older, so I will be going out on my own.”