Independent agencies join Build to Rent market as Houzen makes the link
Estate agents in London are increasingly turning to Houzen, an innovative revenue generation service, to win new instructions.
Estate agents in London are increasingly turning to Houzen, an innovative revenue generation service, to win new instructions – good news in the face of tough market conditions. With strong growth in demand for its services, Houzen is planning a major expansion, aiming to open offices in five new cities by 2020, starting with Manchester.
The June 2019 RICS UK Residential Market Survey observes a slightly steadier market, yet despite a small rise in buyer demand and new instructions to sell holding steady, RICS reports that, “much of the anecdotal commentary remains a little downbeat.” This is why Houzen’s service is such a relief to many agents.
Houzen currently operates primarily in the London area, though it has already begun its expansion, having launched a Build to Rent scheme with Europa Capital in Manchester earlier this year and now being in discussion with several other developers in the city.
Premium instructions
The company specialises in working with Build to Rent operators, bringing premium instructions to local and independent agents, rather than leaving them in the domain of only the largest corporate agencies, as has previously been the case. With significant investment and banking experience behind them, the Houzen team are breaking the mould, essentially doing for new instructions what Rightmove did for applicants back in 2000. With Houzen’s support, estate agents can focus on closing deals rather than having to find them.
Houzen’s hope is that its platform helps local agents through the supply of premium instructions – despite the current market conditions. In London, Houzen is now widely used to win new instructions. Manchester is next on the list, with plans also in place to open Houzen branches in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Dublin within the next 18 months.
Saurabh Saxena, ex-banker and private equity strategist at the helm of the Houzen brand, says,
“There’s no doubt that these are tricky times for estate agents and many of those suffering are the smaller, independent agencies where daily admin can reduce the time spent closing deals. Finding new instructions is part of that admin. By significantly reducing the time needed for that task, we are providing agents with more time to focus on what they do best, as well as opening up premium instructions like never before. We look forward to working with even more agents across the UK over the coming months.”
