Foxtons gambles on fees ban by not hiking charges to landlords
The famously bullish estate agency says that despite lower revenues in lettings, the tactic has already helped the company gain more market share.
Foxtons has not increased its landlord fees following the tenant fees ban, its latest results reveal.
This has enabled the company to poach landlords off competitors and grow lettings market share as many other agents seek to recoup lost tenant fees from their landlord clients, it is claimed.
But the tactical move has cost Foxtons revenue within its lettings business, which has dropped by 4% to £22.1 million during the past three months.
The figures are part of yet another poor quarterly set of results which Foxtons has blamed on the struggling London sales market as well as the tenant fees ban.
Its overall results for the three months to the end of September reveal group revenue down 7% to £32.5 million, taking its total revenue for the year to £88.1 million, a reduction of 5% on the previous year.
Sales down 15%
In sales, Brexit and other factors including Stamp Duty continue to depress volumes and prices in London. This reduced its sales revenues by 15% to £8.4 million which,, it claims is a reasonable performance given the ‘market backdrop’.
“Overall, this was a resilient performance set against the London sales market which continues to deteriorate, and the impact of the tenant fee ban on our lettings business,” says Foxtons‘ CEO Nic Budden (left).
“We are encouraged by landlords’ reaction to our improved lettings offer and are confident we can continue to gain share in the
London lettings market. We continue to manage costs tightly to ensure the business is well-placed to withstand this prolonged market downturn and are confident that this, coupled with our improved overall offer, positions us well for the future.”
