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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Fifth of independent letting agents will disappear by 2020, says Belvoir
The UK's largest franchised estate agency chain Belvoir predicts that there will be 20% fewer independent letting agents by 2020.
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Hunters hoovers up 279-property lettings portfolio in Midlands
Franchised estate agency chain Hunters has kicked off the New Year with the purchase of a large lettings portfolio in Staffordshire. Its Lichfield branch (pictured), which is run by David Curwen and Daniel Yates and is owned by £3+ million turnover subsidiary Hunters (Midlands) Limited, has acquired the portfolio, which includes 279 fully-managed properties in and around the cathedral town. The deal has been struck with the help of Hunters financial support scheme, which supports franchisees among its 200+ branch network to expand their businesses. The scheme has so far backed acquisitions of portfolios across 13 locations around the UK since it was introduced, including four during the past six months. Latest areas include Harborne in Birmingham, Sheffield, Redditch and Lichfield. Through the initiative, the specialist acquisition team at Hunters supports local branches by helping to identify new lettings opportunities, before offering financial help to complete the purchase. Expansion Hunters says it had a good 2018 including expansion in the West Country, where it launched a further three branches in Somerset, and also increased its presence in locations across Yorkshire, the Midlands, the North East and London the South East. “Our lettings expertise is first-class, and we are able to…
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Two teenagers charged after estate agency branch robbed at knife point
Two teenagers have been arrested and charged after a estate agency branch staff in London were robbed at knife point last week.
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Hybrid letting agent joins forces with Airbnb management specialist
London hybrid letting agent Spotahome and Airbnb management service Hostmaker have joined forces to help landlords 'circumvent' short-stay laws.
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Is Brexit driving independents to take refuge in franchised brands?
Franchised estate agency chains Winkworth and Century21 have this week revealed a big rise in applications and branch openings.
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Purplebricks gives new COO a £1.1 million golden hello
Hybrid estate agency Purplebricks has given its new Chief Operating Office Vic Darvey a £1.1 million godlen hello.
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Haart branch apologises after prospecting letter suggests Purplebricks is in financial trouble
A haart branch member in Nottingham has sent out a prospecting letter to a Purplebricks vendor that mistakenly suggested the hybrid agency is in trouble.
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Online and hybrid rivals of eMoov hoover up former employees
Online and hybrid agents are taking on many former employees of eMoov including Purplebricks, OnlineEstateAgents.com, Keller Williams and Housesimple, research by The Negotiator can reveal. Of the 50 or more local property experts formerly working for eMoov on a self employed basis, half have yet to find new roles while 10% have secured roles outside the property industry and a further 20% have found roles at traditional agents. One example is Paul Radloff, who was a local property agent for eMoov in the South East but is now working for Sequence as a branch manager at its office in Lewes. But a fifth have secured jobs at former competitors of eMoov’s including one of the most senior, Richard Olliffe (picture, left), the company’s former Group Sales Director since November 2017. He has started a role at Purplebricks as a Sales Director. And eMoov’s Midlands Territory Manager Ben Burgin has joined Housesimple as an estate agent covering Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire. He joins at least three other former eMoov field representatives at the Essex-based hybrid agency including Reece Maddick and Jack Malnick. Malnick was formerly National Sales Director at eMoov but is now Housesimple’s Operations Director. Also, two former eMoov local…
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Housing rights campaigners target TPFG franchisee in SW
Campaigners convene meeting to discuss local branch of CJ Hole in Bristol but franchisee say he's not aware of any 'outside the norm' complaints against his business.
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Purplebricks and Yopa boosted by demise of eMoov and Tepilo
Purplebricks and Yopa benefitted the most from the demise of Emoov and Tepilo, a report into the online and hybrid estate agency market has revealed. Analysis of the sector’s growth by housing market advice service PropertyRoad.co.uk has revealed that Purplebricks increased its slice of the cake from 53% to nearly 60% while Yopa increased its from 9.6% to 15%, helped in part by the two competitors disappearing. The research found that Purplebricks picked up the most market share during the year, unsurprising given its dominance of the field and its recent offer to take on former customers of eMoov and Tepilo for free. Its other nearest rival, Express Estate Agency, now has 12.4% of the online market, up by just 1%. The remaining ‘big six’ hybrid/online estate agents now have just over 95% of the market between them. This includes Purplebricks, Yopa, Express Estate Agency, House Network, Housesimple and Doorsteps. “Consumers are increasingly turning to the brands they recognise despite the recent news about the difficulties faced by previous big brands such as Emoov and Tepilo,” the report says. It is also clear from the research that the battle for second place is now on. Purplebricks looks unassailable with 20,272 active…
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