Search Results for: aml
-
Features
Don’t get washed up by money laundering rules
After Channel 4’s exposé, From Russia with Cash, RICS expelled a member for his role in money laundering, so, says Andrea Kirkby, you need to appreciate the risks and comply with the rules.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Countrywide closures: IoW agent latest to shut branches
The Countrywide closures saga continues after one of its agents on the Isle of Wight became the latest to have branches closed and staff redeployed or put through a consultation process. Watson Bull & Porter, which currently has eight branches on the island and had already closed its Shanklin office before the latest announcement, says it is to close a further two branches, possibly by the end of the year. The company, which has been trading for over 150 years, would not reveal which two offices would face closure as their staff are going through a consultation process before they close their doors. Countrywide released a statement to local media saying that “as always, we remain committed to working with colleagues to ensure that those who wish to be redeployed are supported in doing so”. The company also said that it had ‘updated’ all its staff last week on changes to its retail and London businesses about the “next phase of change which includes streamlining our branch footprint and strengthening our regional management structure”. The Isle of Wight closures are part of a move by Countrywide to slim down its operations which has included the amalgamation of several London agencies into the…
Read More » -
Features
Why I don’t think Airbnb rentals are legal, reliable or safe
Demand for short-term residential lettings is rising, particularly in city centres, says Jeremy Leaf, but what are the risks for landlords?
Read More » -
Latest property news
Zoopla buys another agency tech provider
If Brexit has damaged the property market this year then Zoopla has managed to dodge the worst of it, its full year results reveal. Profits at parent company ZPG increased by 44% to £36.7m in 2016 while revenue jumped by 84% to £197.7m. Revenue from agents is up by 5% and the number of agents listing with Zoopla increased by 10% this year. ZPG says all its sites, which includes Zoopla, PrimeLocation, uSwitch and recently-acquired agent software provider PSG, totalled 600m visits over the past year. PSG is not its only tech acquisition. ZPG also reveal that it has bought Essex-based cloud agency website design provider Technicweb. ZPG hasn’t quite seen off the OnTheMarket threat despite the upbeat full year results. During a webcast this morning ZPG said its portal-only revenue is down 1%, due to both ‘churn’ created by OnTheMarket and ‘other headwinds’. But it is clear from the results that the purchase of PSG has been a major plank in ZPG’s strategy to grow its agency customer base by luring back OnTheMarket switchers, and today’s announcement that Welsh agent Robert and Co has returned to Zoopla from OnTheMarket would seem to confirm this. The Newport based company said ZPG’s PSG…
Read More » -
Features
Can proptech change the industry or is it all just an expensive experiment?
The first wave of the digital revolution hit in the early noughties – soon after that Rightmove and later, Zoopla, were born. But 15 years on, the next giant leap has arrived which, if its proponents are to be believed, will have an equally profound effect. You may have noticed it. Everyone is now talking about ‘proptech’; the community of small to medium-size new companies that are launching online services into the property market both for agents and consumers. But rather than monolithic giants like Zoopla, proptech firms are a swarm of smaller businesses changing the way property transacts, bit by bit, with no less potential impact. In the past 12 months we have witnessed a significant proliferation in the number of start-ups entering the market. Some of the digital world’s best minds are fixing their brains on making the property game more seamless, not only for purchasers and vendors but also for agents, investors and developers in the sales market. “The property market is an industry steeped in history and, to a certain extent, set in its ways but, perhaps later than other sectors such as retail or transport, technology is starting to have a real bearing on the…
Read More » -
Latest property news
What will Countrywide announce next Thursday?
Countrywide has said this morning that it is going to make its third quarter management statement next Thursday, and there is now nervous debate among employees and shareholders about what Alison Platt and her executive team are going to reveal. The company has been through turbulent times over the past 18 months as its share price has dropped by two thirds from over £6 a share to £2 today. Several senior people have exited the business recently including, most notably, the managing director of its estate agency business Bob Scarff. Platt (pictured) has a difficult job ahead of her. The number of homes for sale in the UK have been dropping and many of Countrywide’s competitors have been suffering this year including Foxtons, which said it had seen sales in London reduce by a third in recent months. There are two rumoured directions in which Platt is planning to travel. The first is to reduce costs, which will reassure investors who traditionally bay for cuts in difficult times. Several major Countrywide brands have indicated they expect to drastically reduce their print advertising spend next year. But Platt is also said to be considering how to streamline the business which now numbers some…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Is lettings proptech firm Movebubble a game changer?
A lettings proptech company claiming to be a ‘game changer’ in the private rented sector says it can achieve a lead conversion rate of 25% for its letting agent clients just nine months after launching its app. The Movebubble app, which lists properties from several agents including Chestertons, Hamptons and JLL, enables renters to search, book appointments and rent properties seamlessly without the need for phone calls. Movebubble says it has already handled 25,000 renters since launching this year, has 2,000 daily app users and that the number of people moving via its app is doubling every month. “It’s basically a network between the renter and the agent that uses technology and data to help renters find areas [to live in] they wouldn’t have considered or found by themselves,” says Movebubble CEO Aidan Rushby. Rushby (pictured, left) says the best way to describe Movebubble is as an Uber for the property world offering two-click viewing bookings and the ability to rate an agent’s service in the same way TripAdvisor does. “A lot of the agents like the rateable part as it helps improve the experience they are giving the renters and helps manages their branches’ and teams’ performance. It also…
Read More » -
Regulation & Law
Local tragedy sparks campaign against letting fees
A councillor in Southend, Essex has vowed to do battle with local agents who charge tenants high letting fees after his son killed himself over the cost of renting a flat. Southend independent councillor Tino Callaghan says the council has supported his motion to ‘name and shame’ local agents charging tenants high administration costs. Mr Callaghan, who launched the initiative with fellow councillor Laurence Davis, says his son was worried because he couldn’t afford the cost of a deposit for a flat to house his family. “Registration fees can be astronomical and we have spoken to many tenants who been caught out with fees,” Mr Davis told the Halstead Gazette. “The council can’t enforce anything but they can name and shame those who are not acting in the best interests of the public.” This tragedy played out in Southend is the latest development in a growing campaign by several media outlets, councils and politicians to highlight what they see as the excessive administration fees charged by some agents. This includes The Guardian newspaper which recently called fees a ‘great letting agency rip-off’ while in May this year the London Borough of Tower Hamlets gave six local agents 28 days to display…
Read More » -
Features
Touch screen technology in the high street
Traditional marketing via photos-in-the-window on the high street is being challenged by new touch screen technology, as Sheila Manchester discovered.
Read More » -
Features
A sale… is a sale
You may not be an auctioneer, but you can still sell properties through auction, says Sheila Manchester.
Read More »