Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
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Mystery surrounds murder of property manager during street shooting
Eron Miah, who worked and lived in East London, died from bullet wound injuries and was found lying on the ground.
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Ascend Properties reports a record 2018
Ascend Properties has announced a record year in 2018, with a 62% year-on-year increase in turnover and 400 new units being added to their property portfolio. The company also signed agreements for further Build To Rent (BTR) and the record year was further complemented by a strong lettings and sales performance across all branches, with almost 1,400 agreed lets and 200 completed property sales in 2018. Ascend has also recently opened a new office in Leeds, planning to build the brand further in the Yorkshire region. Staff levels across its Manchester, Salford, Liverpool and Leeds branches increased by 40% in 2018, with new appoints at all levels of the business and particular growth in the company’s dedicated Built To Rent team. Ascend’s Managing Director, Ged McPartlin said, “These figures reflect the great team we have at Ascend and their hard work and professionalism. 2018 was a phenomenal year for the business, but we don’t plan to stop there. We’ve already got new, exciting projects in the pipeline and our branches continue to exceed their targets.”
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PICTURES: ‘I know what it’s like to be stared at now just because you LOOK homeless’
Estate agents and suppliers at last night's charity event in Stratford's Olympic Park raised £57,000 for Centrepoint but also found out what it's like to be homeless when travelling there with their overnight gear.
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Ben Beadle is confirmed as new CEO at NRLA
Ben Beadle is to be the Chief Executive of the new National Residential Landlords Association, formed from the merger of the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association. The NRLA will launch in January 2020. Ben is currently Director of Operations at Touchstone, part of the Places for People housing group. Previously he was Managing Director of TDS Northern Ireland and Director of Customer Service with the TDS, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. He will join NRLA in November. Announcing the appointment, Alan Ward, RLA chairman and Adrian Jeakings, NLA chairman said, “Ben has a depth and breadth of knowledge of private renting which will be a tremendous asset to our campaigning and members’ services”. Both chairmen paid tribute to their respective current chief executives, Richard Lambert at the NLA and Andrew Dixon at the RLA for the dedication to the task and support in the detailed work of bringing the organisations together. Both will leave at the end of the year. The merger was approved by RLA and NLA members on September 17th.
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Adair Paxton celebrates 160 years and plans further growth
A Leeds based property company celebrated its 160th anniversary at Leeds Corn Exchange. Adair Paxton has a turnover of £2 million and aims to increase that by 10% in the next financial year. Wholly owned by seven directors, employing a team of 30, the respected commercial and residential property company has acquired two companies during the last 10 years and will soon announce another. Director, Simon Dalingwater, said, “Established in 1859, our business has been at the heart of Leeds’s property market for so many years. Leeds Corn Exchange, which is symbolic within the city, opened just four years after our business launched, was the perfect venue to host this significant anniversary celebration, with more than 150 respected members of the region’s property community attending. “Our firm actually manages the impressive building for its owner, Rushbond, and we were delighted to welcome so many people from our industry to share in our successes in such an impressive setting.” Adair Paxton also manages residential schemes including Concord Street – a development of 171 apartments in the Northern Quarter. Its estate agency division is also successfully selling 120 of the apartments and has just been appointed to market the newly renovated…
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Countrywide agent breaks ranks and replies to poor reviews on AllAgents
Countrywide has let slip that it is to begin replying to unflattering reviews its agencies receive via online platform AllAgents. Its change of heart was revealed yesterday after a tenant posted a one-star review of the service they had received from seven-branch Kent and Sussex agency Ashton Burkinshaw. The company received a very poor review from a tenant who had rented a property via the agency in the village of Tenterden near Ashford in Kent. This unnamed individual complained of significant money taken from their deposit following check-out and that the firm’s property manager had been ‘snobbish’ and ‘superior’. AllAgents reply Ashton Burkinshaw’s local franchise hold Jeremy Jago replied, explaining that “until recently our policy was not to response to these reviews [but] this has changed which is why we are responding now,” he said. “We did not manage the property so had little influence over matters during the seven months that the tenancy lasted. “Of course we appreciate that no tenant likes having claims made on their deposit but unfortunately, the property was left in such poor condition compared to the start of the tenancy even allowing for wear and tear, that we had no choice but to make…
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Shares in Martin & Co parent company jump following tenant fees ban update
The Property Franchise Group's stock increased in value by 10.5% yesterday during City trading as traders take refuge in franchised agency shares as Brexit drags on.
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Martin & Co raises fees to landlords by 10% to offset tenant fees ban
The parent company of Martin & Co and Ewemove has revealed that the group has managed to recoup the revenue it had expected to lose following the tenant fees ban. The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) had originally told investors that it would take until the middle of 2020 to mitigate the effects of the ban. TPFG says revenue from lettings reached a record £5.96 million last month despite fees charged to tenants having previously represented 16% of lettings turnover. This is somewhat less than the industry average; a report by Fixflo released on Monday revealed that on average a fifth of estate agents have lost more than 20% of their income following the ban and that only 2% had managed to maintain revenue levels. TPFG has hung its success on the cost savings of its franchise model, an increase in tenant demand and, most importantly, raising fees to its landlords by 10% to £4.28m in October from £3.88m in October last year. “We are delighted that the mitigating actions we’ve recommended to our franchisees have taken effect as hoped and at a good pace,” says TPFG CEO Ian Wilson. “We now expect to achieve full mitigation of the impact of…
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Yes, Minister! Agent offers up some radical property market ideas
Fed up with housing ministers who often have no idea what they're talking about, James Greenwood of Stacks has launched his own election manifesto.
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Number of estate agencies going bust doubles in three years
New research using Insolvency Service figures reveals significant jump in the number of estate agencies going out of business since Referendum.
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