Agencies & People
News covering the businesses, activities, people and personalities in estate agency and letting agency and wider residential property industry.
-
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 » -
CIELA launch now very likely to proceed, says founder
The CIELA launch strategy to highlight the organisations potential downfall unless agents sign up in enough numbers has worked after founder Charles Wright revealed that it is on track for a full launch on October 1st. In June the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents predicted the organisation would face a bleak future unless independent agents who had shown interest paid to join the organisation and give it enough revenue for a launch. But now Charles says agent recruitment is back on track after initial worries if “current trends continue”. The organisation has also recently launched its full website, positioning itself as a new voice for agents to prevent the “corporate takeover of the industry”. CIELA has set itself some tough initial goals for its first few months following the official launch including stopping the ban on letting fees and locking horns with Purplebricks and other online agents. “It has become clear that the most important post-launch priority for our members is to shine the spotlight on rogue independent agents,” says Charles (pictured, left). “The consensus is that sloppy standards among lower-quality agents, who are the ones most likely to be avoiding legislative requirements, stimulate the most public complaints…
Read More » -
‘Why does our industry allow rogue agents to continue ripping people off?’
One of London’s largest estate agents has called for greater action by the industry and government to eradicate rogue agents after encountering increasing problems recently with rival companies who don’t comply with industry codes of conduct or regulations. LiFe Residential, which has a large HQ near Acton in West London, 13 offices across the capital and 4,000 properties under management, says since November last year it has received more and more cries for help from landlord clients who say they have lost deposits and rents after switching to rival agents who pop up and then disappear over short periods of time. “The fly-by-night nature of these companies, the fact that regulation of the industry is light and that the police aren’t interested unless dozens of people lose money, means these kinds of agents know they have room to operate,” says Jonathan Werth, a director of LiFe Residential. One particularly extreme example of a London agent that closed down owing tenants and landlords thousands of pounds is Oliver Knights Properties Limited, a company that ceased trading in April last year. There are comments on All Agents and many other forums full of landlords and tenants complaining that they have lost money…
Read More » -
10% more off-market sales in London so far this year
London’s slowing property market has driven 10% more vendors in its prime central markets to dispose of their homes via off-market sales this year, according to Mayfair-based buying agent Black Brick. The company says it considers ‘off market’ to be those which are sold directly via the vendor to the seller, via an estate agent, who will utilise their contacts to sell a property without any marketing or brochures, or those sold from buying agent to buying agent. Some 38% of all properties sold by Black Brick during the first six months of the year were sold this way, it says, an increase of 10% compared to last year. The company says this is because London’s super-rich are increasingly anxious about putting their homes on the open market, and particularly worried about then having to drop their asking price, as London’s prime property markets cool off dramatically. Off-market sales According to Lonres, prices per square foot in London’s prime central postcodes have dipped by 11% since their 2014 peak and that vendors are waiting five months to find a buyer, on average. And Hamptons recently reported that foreign buyers have all but deserted central London since the EU Referendum, while…
Read More » -
Is this hybrid agency the future of the industry?
A company in Cardiff is claiming to be one of the first independents to offer side-by-side hybrid agency and traditional high street services. It’s a move already made by Countrywide with its selective hybrid digital roll-out, but Four Walls Online claims to be one of the early adopters among smaller, non-corporate agents. The agency, which is part of a local housing association and operates from its HQ (see above), has launched a digital platform that enables it to offer both traditional high street services and an online-only model to landlords and vendors. Cardiff city centre-based Four Walls Online says it believes the high street and hybrid agency models are not mutually exclusive. The company’s Property Platform enables clients in both sales and lettings to log on at any time and using any device to progress the sale or let of their property including scheduling viewings, negotiating offers and managing payments. The system was soft-launched during the first week of July and Four Walls Online says it has so far processed three sales and ten lets through the system. Hybrid agency Four Walls Online offers two sales pricing packages. The first is a ‘sell-it-yourself’ style online packaged priced £595 and charged…
Read More » -
Why being a Rising Star at The Negotiator Awards changed everything
Winning the Rising Star of the year at the The Negotiator Awards last year was a really proud moment for me. I’d worked hard over the years to try and promote property auctions not just to savvy investors and experienced landlords but also as a feasible means of buying a home. Having bought my first property under the hammer when I was 22 years old, I knew how daunting it could be but I also knew the many advantages it can bring too, if you’re brave and take the right advice. From that point onwards I made a point of encouraging suitable home buyers to come along and consider auctions as well as their traditional estate agent. While there is still a long way to go with bringing property auctions into the mainstream, they’ve certainly come a long way in those eight or nine years when I first bought my house. Out of the blue In truth, on the night of the bash I hadn’t given the awards a great deal of thought prior to the night starting as the whole thing came a bit out of the blue, with me only realising I’d been nominated when I received an…
Read More » -
Belvoir buys mortgage broker as founder steps down
Belvoir has bought mortgage broker Brook Financial Services for £2 million in a deal which will see the franchise agency pay £1.5 million in cash plus £500,000 in ordinary shares. Brook, which trades as Mortgage Advice Bureau and is the appointed UK representative of the PLC with the same name, is one of the UK’s leading referral networks for mortgage intermediaries. Its client list includes many independent estate agents across the UK. Brook, which is based in Barnsley has 32 staff, says it will “leverage its expertise to introduce new mortgage products and services to the Belvoir Group”. The company was set up in 2010 by Michelle Brook (pictured left). She is the sole shareholder and has worked in the financial services industry for over 30 years. “The acquisition today of Brook by Belvoir represents a significant milestone for the business and provides the opportunity to grow sales of financial service products within the Belvoir group. Brook has a fantastic team of experienced advisers and a solid support structure operating within the Mortgage Advice Bureau network from which the Belvoir Group will benefit.” Brook turned over £1.6 million during its last audited year of trading and made a profit of…
Read More » -
Government property market track record is “disaster” says agency chief
One of the UK’s leading estate agency CEOs has launched a blistering attack on the government’s handling of the property market since it was elected in June. Haart CEO Paul Smith reckons the number of landlords registering with its branches to buy property is down by almost a third as fewer landlords invest in property. He says that “this could have serious long-term consequences for the rental market and lead to higher rents, putting those who are trying to save for a deposit in an even more difficult position”. His comments follow the most recent overall data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) which reveals that , although mortgage lending rose in May by 10% year-on-year, the figures “flatter to deceive” says Paul Smee, Head of Mortgages at CML parent organisation UK Finance (pictured, left). “The seasonally-adjusted data shows a less buoyant lending picture, with home buying activity remaining relatively unchanged month-on-month and remortgage lending gradually decreasing each month since January,” he says. Disaster Haart’s Paul Smith (pictured, below) says he also thinks Prime Minister Theresa May’s legacy on home ownership has so far been “a disaster” and that ‘just about managing’ families are further away from owning their…
Read More » -
Campbells launches online service
Campbells, whose property experts mainly work in the Northamptonshire and Warwickshire area, has just launched their online property selling and letting service.
Read More » -
70% of millennials rely on reviews to choose an agent
UK homebuyers rely on reviews to inform their decision making when selecting an estate agent, according to a national study commissioned by global ratings and customer insights company Feefo.
Read More »