Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
-
Hatched founder joins easyProperty as Head of Operations
Adam Day, the founder of online estate agency Hatched.co.uk has joined easyProperty.com as its Head of Operations, just 15 months after Hatched was bought by Connells. On his Linkedin profile Adam lists himself as “taking a break” in between leaving Hatched earlier this month and joining easyProperty, although in December last year Adam was on a recruitment for more Hatched agents, saying it was an “exciting time to join our business as we continue to build on the successes of previous years”. Adam (pictured, right) has joined easyProperty to set up the systems and procedures that will transform the website from an exclusively consumer-facing operation into the geographically licensed B2B offering that easyProperty CEO Jon Cooke describes as “the convergence of high street agency with online sales and lettings”. And Adam has his work cut out – easyProperty expects to relaunch in September this year. £60m deal with GPEA Adam’s arrival at easyProperty follows the £60m deal between the Guild of Professional Estate Agents and easyProperty to merge earlier this month and that 270-plus GPEA members have signed up so far to be easyProperty licensees out of a potential pool of 800. In return for a fee, easyProperty is licensing…
Read More » -
Property Ombudsman expels three agents
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) is on track to expel more members this year than in 2016 after three agents were expelled in one go yesterday. Last year TPO kicked out nine agents but six have already been expelled this year following the latest expulsions, with just six months of the year gone. The three agents are Shields & Co in Nottingham, LPC Lettings Ltd in Liverpool and Blackhorse Property Management Ltd in Bradford (all pictured). Two were expelled after failing to pay awards totalling £11,000 to landlords following complaints to the ombudsman that were subsequently upheld. TPO members are required to comply with any award or direction given by the Ombudsman and accepted by the complainants. “It is important to point out that cases like these are extremely rare and concern the actions of a small minority of agents,” says TPO Chairman Jerry Fitzjohn. “Taking into account the vast number of sales and lettings transactions that take place every year, only a small percentage of consumers contact TPO to complain about their agent, and our recent Annual Report reveals an even smaller number are referred to our Disciplinary & Standards Committee.” Shields & Co had failed to pay a landlord…
Read More » -
Countrywide digital roll-out helps it retain market share
The half-year results for Countrywide reveal it has hung on to market share despite an overall contraction in the UK sales market, helped mainly by the roll-out of its digital ‘low fee’ proposition. Its market share dipped slightly from 5.1% to 4.9% but it increased its slice of the mortgage distribution market. The company also reduced costs by £19 million, helping generate £11.8 million in cash between January and June, up from £1.6 million last year. “We are building a stronger business for our future and remain on track with our goals to broaden our digital capability, reduce our operating cost base and strengthen our balance sheet,” says CEO Alison Platt (pictured, left) “Based on our current performance and the outlook for housing transactions in the UK, we expect our results and our leverage for the full year to be within the range of market expectations.” But like Foxtons which also reavealed half-year results today, the softening sales market helped reduce income at Countrywide by 10% during the first half of the year, and profits are down by 26%. Tough year for Countrywide “As anticipated, the first half of 2017 was tough for the Group compared to the same period…
Read More » -
Profits continue to plunge at Foxtons as sales market remains “subdued”
Profits and turnover at Foxtons have dropped dramatically, the company’s half year results reveal. Group revenue reduced to £58.5m, down from £68.8m during the same period last year, while profits before tax nearly halved from £13.1m to £7.1m. The continuing pain comes from its sales division, which saw revenues down nearly a third to £22.2m compared to last year, and which the company says is a “subdued market” that is “negatively weighed upon by continuing political and macro-economic uncertainty”. London’s sales market continued to cool during the first half of the year, not helped by the General Election, the company says. The number of homes sold by Foxtons from January to June this year dropped to 1,544 from 2,314 last year. But the Foxtons lettings machine continues to deliver. Revenue from tenants reduced by only 2% which the company blames on dropping rents, which it says dipped by 4% in June, although volumes increased by 1%. London rents falling The company says it’s becoming increasingly a renters market in London and that fewer overseas tenants and “inflationary pressures on wages” are forcing rents down. Foxtons says overall the overall average rent in London was down 5% during the first half…
Read More » -
Hunters buys SW franchise firm Besley Hill for £2.5 million
Franchise giant Hunters has bought one of Gloucestershire’s larger estate agency networks in a deal worth £2.5 million, it has been revealed. All 15 franchised branches of 40-year-old firm Besley Hill are included in the deal which are all in Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. Besley Hill began business in 1976 starting with a single branch in Kingswood, Gloucestershire (pictured, right) and then grew organically before expanding via franchising from 2004 onwards. The business also established a foothold in Gloucestershire after buying several branches from The Halifax. “Hunters’ national reach and reputation, combined with its strong focus on local ownership and local knowledge through its franchise model, is very exciting for us and represents great opportunities for the future,” Adam Offer, managing director of Besley Hill, told a local paper. “As all of our branches are franchised, the acquisition complements Hunters’ business strategy very well as well as enabling us to share our principles of delivering excellent customer service in both residential sales and lettings.” Day-to-day running Adam is the only remaining founder of the business, which he set up with Philip Besley and Robert Hill, and he and finance director Allison Firks-Matthews have agreed to stay on in the business…
Read More » -
Preston estate agent corrects Rightmove listing after complaint
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has investigated a complaint against Preston estate agent Leftmove about two of the company’s listings on Rightmove. A statement from the ASA says the complainant said both properties were advertised as “under offer” even though Land Registry information revealed they had been sold in March and April this year respectively. The ASA says it contacted Leftmove which said the mistake was due to human error and both listings have now been updated to “sold”. Following the explanation and remedial action by Leftmove, the ASA says it didn’t consider that further action was needed and closed the case informally. Leftmove has five branches in Preston, Freckleton, Kirkham, Blackpool and St Annes and has approximately 16 staff. The company was established in 2014 and claims to be one of the fastest growing agents in the affluent area stretching from Preston, along the Ribble river and north to Blackpool. Its Preston branch is listed as 1st out of 172 in the PR4 postcode for instructions and it has sold 20 properties this year according to its Rightmove listing. It lists with both Rightmove and Rightmove and operates an unusual pricing structure, charging different set selling fees for properties,…
Read More » -
Over 270 Guild agents sign up to be easyProperty licence holders
Over 270 estate agents belonging to The Guild of Property Professionals have signed up to become easyProperty licence holders out of a potential pool of 800, it has been revealed. Online-only agent easyProperty was bought by the Guild’s parent company GPEA last month, a deal that completed on 12th July. This will eventually create a new parent company, e-Prop Services, although back in June the deal was framed as a merger on the main Easy.com site where all the Easy brands established by founder Stelios Haji–Ioannou are listed. The drive to persuade to Guild members to sign up to be geographically-based licence holders for the easyProperty brand and service follows an 11-date race around the country by a roadshow outlining the proposition. GPEA claims 70% of those who turned up to the roadshows signed up via a ‘letter of intent’ to become easyProperty licence holders. easyProperty CEO Jon Cooke (pictured, left) says the business will be relaunched in September as a part B2B, part consumer orientated operation, rather than its current consumer facing only offering. News of the new sign-ups follows criticism of the easyPropery and GPEA deal last month by leading proptech consultant James Dearsley, who questioned the deal’s…
Read More » -
Fraudulent Essex lettings agency duo narrowly miss going to jail
Two directors of an Essex lettings agency have narrowly escaped going to jail after the couple failed to lodge deposits totalling £42,794 for 73 rental properties with the approved government schemes. George and Kim Overill, who ran two companies in the county – Oakpark Properties (UK) Ltd and Oakpark Asset Management Limited in Harwich – appeared in court yesterday where they pleaded guilty to two counts each of contravening professional diligence as directors and a further two counts of fraudulent trading. In October last year the couple, who previously ran a roofing company before getting into lettings, faced 38 counts of fraud, engaging in unfair commercial practices and fraudulent trading.They originally denied all the charges. The court heard from a former employee that money at the business was “tight” and that one member of staff had injected £6,000 of her own cash into the businesses to keep them afloat while Mrs Overill went on exotic holidays and extended the couple’s home in Thorpe-le-Stoken. Essex lettings agency In mitigation, defence lawyer Stephen Dyble said the couple had not intended to commit fraud when they set the businesses up and that money owed to tenants had been paid back. Alison Lambert, prosecuting,…
Read More » -
Nick Dunning snaps up London agent Stirling Ackroyd
Six-branch estate and letting agency Stirling Ackroyd has been bought by Nick Dunning Associates, it has been revealed. Stirling Ackroyd was started up in 1987 in Shoreditch and has grown into a major name in London both for residential and commercial property sales and lettings. It currently manages some 1,400 residential properties in the capital. In January of this year the company’s directors met to agree a Corporate voluntary arrangement, which enables companies that are technically insolvent to continue trading by paying back creditors over a fixed period. Stirling Ackroyds most recent accounts are also overdue, according to Companies House. Stirling Ackroyd has branches in Bankside, Clerkenwell, Hackney, West End and Chatsworth Road, alongside its original Shoreditch branch (pictured, above). Stirling Ackroyd Nick Dunning Associates has ambitious plans for the company including a programme of investment in Stirling Ackroyd’s branch network and infrastructure, and an expansion programme to grow the business three-fold in three years both new branch openings and acquisition. This is the third agent brand Nick Dunning Associates has bought this year, following the purchase of Adams Property in Ealing this June and Badger Holding Group, owner of Townends and Regents, in January. “We are very excited about…
Read More » -
Consumers warned by The Property Ombudsman over Bucks agency’s conduct
A Buckinghamshire sales and letting agency has run into trouble with The Property Ombudsman (TPO) again after it failed to provide information or a written assurance following a recent complaint to TPO by several of its landlords. This is the second time The Property Ombudsman has had to intervene over complaints about Purfect Property Solutions, which in the past has traded as Purfect Properties(UK) Ltd. That company is now dissolved. Details for both companies include the same address on Temple Street in Aylesbury (pictured) and have one common director, Derek Hall. The most recent issue that TPO dealt with began when landlord clients of Purfect Properties Solutions approached TPO after they were unable to resolve a dispute with the company, details of which have not been revealed. The dispute was resolved in their favour and the award paid, but the case was referred to TPO’s Disciplinary & Standards Committee over the company’s conduct during the case. A warning has now been issued that will last for a year. TPO says this is because the agency “failed to provide information as the Ombudsman had directed or any written assurance that the agency would in future co-operate with the Ombudsman and comply…
Read More »