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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Purplebricks told by ad watchdog not to repeat key claims about its fees
Purplebricks has had three complaints against it by Hunters upheld despite originally avoiding this by agreeing to amend its website.
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Knight Frank expands London network
Knight Frank has opened a new sales and lettings office in the Royal Arsenal Riverside development in Woolwich, where Knight Frank is an instructed agent with the developer, Berkeley Homes.
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More smaller agents will ‘dip into’ tenant deposits after fees ban, predicts Romans
The number of independent letting agents who illegally dip into tenant deposits to support their struggling businesses is set to rise, 30-branch South East sales and letting agency Romans has predicted. Its punchy comments are within an unusual blog on its website that likens errant agents to character Walter White in US TV drama Breaking Bad. The agency says that when the Tenant Fees Bill becomes law next year many independent agents will lose a “sizeable chunk” of their income and therefore start looking for ‘short cuts’. “If the recent behaviour of misusing client money is anything to go by, the amount stolen will increase further putting more and more landlords at risk,” the blog says. No agent sets out to be a rogue deposit dipper, Romans argues, but a series of bad decisions leads to it happening. “Whilst watching an episode of Breaking Bad, it suddenly occurred to me, like Walter White, other agents hadn’t started out with bad intentions, they are victims of circumstance,” explains Romans’ Lettings Managing Director, Richard O’Neill (left). “All agents (hopefully) start out with good intentions [and] they want to do the right thing for landlords and tenants alike. However, just like Walter White,…
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Countrywide shares drop by a third in a single day following profit warning
Countrywide shares lost a third of their value in a single day following a largely gloomy update from the company.
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‘We’re not struggling in Australia’, says Purplebricks
Purplebricks claims its business in Australia is doing better than traditional estate agents there despite a declining market.
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Can he turn it around in time? Countrywide profits to be down £20m during first half of this year
The latest trading update by Countrywide reveals sagging profits but signs of recovery programme working at last.
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Property Ombudsman expels record seven members in one month
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has expelled seven member agents, which is believed to be the largest number kicked out of its scheme in a single month since the organisation was established in 1990. The agents are Exeter firm Bower & Bower, Secret Property in Halifax, Marilla Garland Property Management in Cambridge, Seekers Estate Agents in Birmingham, Alexander Reed in Middlesex, Abby Lettings and Sales in Sunderland and HAB and KAL Properties, also in Middlesex. As is always the case, the agents were taken to TPO by disgruntled customers for breaches of the TPO code of conduct and, after losing their cases, refused or were unable to pay the agreed award and therefore have been expelled. All the companies involved have been kicked out for between one and three years but, unless they pay the agreed awards, will be unable to join any other redress scheme and therefore cannot continue trading. This is an unprecedented number of agents to be kicked out of TPO’s scheme; usually only one or two face the ultimate sanction each month. TPO has highlighted one of the seven cases, which is a shocking tale of two complaints against 44-year-old company Bower & Bower. Shocking case Both…
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Purplebricks struggles in Oz as property market crashes after years of boom
Purplebricks has lost nearly 20% of its local property experts in Australia over the past three months as the Oz property market shows down after years of booming prices and demand. In its March annual results the company said it had 105 local property experts but now lists just 88 on its local website. Interviews with local LPEs by The Australian Financial Review revealed that some were “struggling” to make a living and that the large salaries they had been told were achievable have been failing to materialise. Purplebricks Australia CEO Ryan Dinsdale claimed that only 16 agents had quit since March, and said that 80% of agents were earning a good income. Documents revealed during the investigation have also revealed the fee Australian LPEs earn, which is AUS$1,000 of the AUS$5,000-6,000 upfront fee vendors pay in Oz. In New South Wales, which is the weakest property market in Australia at the moment, it was revealed that LPEs on average win 189 instructions for every 768 valuations, or just 24%. Purplebricks has chosen a bad time to launch its business in Australia. After many years, and decades, of boom the Oz property market is showing signs of a meltdown. Crashing…
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Welsh agency Darlows needs your help to raise £6,000 for children’s charity
Can you help? Welsh agency Darlows is organising a ball in Cardiff to help raise extra cash for children's charity Magic Moments.
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Online service launches ‘goodbye to letting agents’ poster campaign
An online service for landlords has launched a London Underground advertising campaign that urges landlords to say 'goodbye to lettings agents'.
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