Leading London estate agency predicts 20% drop in property sales

Kinleigh Folkward & Hayward forecasted sales to drop by a fifth in 2023 as the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the impact of Liz Truss’s ill-fated mini-budget began to unfold.

The London agent was established 46 years ago in 1977 and is now one of the Capital’s leading estate agency and property services brands with a network of 60 offices – like the one in Earlsfield (main picture) – providing a range of services including sales, lettings, estate management and build to rent, surveying, and financial services.

TRADED POSITIVELY

In documents filed at Companies House last week the agency said that despite the impacts of the war in Ukraine, the ensuing cost of living crisis, plus economic and political uncertainty the group had traded positively in 2022.

Group revenues for the year were £82,510,000 (2021: £85,969,000) resulting in profit before tax of £4,668,000 (2021: £8,899,000).

It added that residential sales transactions continued to be depressed ‘with current forecasts indicating falls in market transactions of 20% in 2023’.

HEALTHY GROWTH

But despite the gloomy prediction it also said that the residential lettings market had continued to show healthy growth across all areas ‘which together with other non-cyclical revenue streams should reflect in positive results for the full year’.

Acknowledging the continued strength of the London market it also noted how many active players were operating in both traditional, online and hybrid models.

“Given the scale of the competition, there is continual pressure on commission rates and availability of housing stock,” it said. “Being able to differentiate the group from its competition in terms of customer experience is key, with complementary services backed up by local knowledge.”

RISK

But with more competitors entering the market it also warned: “The risk is that the group might not be able to retain or recruit the right calibre of staff to maintain its high standards of service and delivery, though increased competition for talent, and also changes within the industry in relation to working conditions.”

And it also highlighted the firm’s vulnerability to hackers, saying: “The group is highly reliant on sophisticated IT solutions across all disciplines, and as such is at risk from system failure or malicious acts.

“Any failures will inevitably lead to loss of service, damaged reputation and potential fines and other adverse consequences.”

The Neg revelaed in April how Kinleigh Folkward & Hayward was supporting charity partner London Youth with a full window display take-over across its branches to promote the charity’s latest campaign, Ambitious Applications.