CIELA
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CIELA ceases to exist
New trade body failed to gain enough support from independent agents or serious momentum, forcing it to close on 31st March 2018.
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Finally! CIELA to launch in April and tackle rogue agents head on
The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents or CIELA has revealed that it will launch on 2nd April 2018 despite several false starts. Soft launched in March to gauge levels of support among independent agents, it then announced in June that it had too few members to go to a full launch, then revealed that it would kick off a full membership plan in July before announcing in October that it would cancel everything. CIELA now says it believes there is a place for an organisation because, its recent research among the industry and members shows, many agents view rogue operators as the biggest threat to the industry, not online agents, the tenant fees ban or corporates. In a statement released this morning, CIELA says it believes looming government regulation of the industry via organisation such as the NAEA and ARLA will not be effective. Rogue directory Instead, it is to launch a directory of legally-compliant agents that can be searched by anyone and be used by any agent regardless of size to prove their integrity and download a certificate. A system to enable rogue agents to be reported for non-compliance with industry regulations and relevant UK laws will…
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Difficult market conditions to blame for CIELA failure, says founding agent
Kristjan Byfield, one of the founding agents of the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agent (CIELA) says the organisation was launched at the wrong time and that it would have been more successful if it had focussed on fewer issues. CIELA launched in January this year but after struggling to attract enough agents to sign up, it threw in the towel in June despite having a large group of experienced founder agents (pictured, right) behind it. “We just tried to launch it at a difficult time,” says Kristjan, who says he realises “hindsight is a wonderful thing” but thinks CIELA launched with too many objectives, and that difficult market conditions meant too many agents didn’t have the time or energy to commit to a new membership organisation. “The trouble with our industry is that we’re a funny old bunch. There were too many voices trying to get their points over; it would have been better to be more focussed,” he says. “Our industry is too fragmented. For example, the issues facing a Welsh agent with a few hundred properties to manage are very different to those facing a business like mine in central London. “I am disappointed that CIELA…
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Purplebricks TV ads ARE misleading, says advertising watchdog
The long-running complaint by the Charter for Independent Estate Agents (CIELA) to the Advertising Standards Authority that Purplebricks TV ads are misleading has been upheld. Two ‘commisery’ adverts aired in March this year – one featuring a man screaming into a cupboard and another a woman falling into cake – were reported to the ASA by CIELA because, the now ‘on ice’ members organisation claimed, the adverts were misleading. It said the comparison in the ads between Purplebricks’ flat fee and traditional agents’ commission structure were not accurate and therefore misleading. The ASA has upheld this complaint – a valedictory win for CIELA only two weeks after it was announced it had not attracted enough members to go to full launch. Within its judgement published today, the ASA says that although it “acknowledged” the difference between flat fees and commission payments, it says flat fees are relatively new in the property market and that, because people move home infrequently, they wouldn’t be familiar with how a flat-fee worked, or that it is different from a commission. “We considered that it was not sufficiently clear in the ads that the fee payable to Purplebricks was not conditional on the sale of…
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The Charter for Independent Estate and Lettings Agents cancels launch
The dream of a separate membership organisation for non-corporate estate agents is over after The Charter for Independent Estate and Lettings Agents (CIELA) last night announced that too few had signed up to join for a full launch. This follows an announcement in early August that just 5% of agents who had showed an interest in joining the organisation had committed to pay its pre-launch monthly membership fee of £35. CIELA’s flame has burned bright since it kicked off in January this year with a dozen founding members led by property software businessman Charlie Wright. As well as promising to fight the influence of the big corporate agents, unfair practices within the industry and the threat of online agents, CIELA also took on Purplebricks head-on, asking it to withdraw its ‘comparative-fee’ TV advertising and submitting a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority *(ASA) about it. A decision by the ASA about the complaint is due “within weeks”, it says. But despite the founding members (pictured, left) launching a six-month consultation pre-launch period in April that finished on Saturday, CIELA says “insufficient members has been achieved for a full launch”, blaming the current tough trading conditions which it says agents have…
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CIELA call for support
Fledgling independent agent mutual body, The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) reports that it is unlikely to launch on October 1st as planned.
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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…
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CIELA waits to see if advertising watchdog decision will go its way
The rolling war of attrition between The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) and Purplebricks has witnessed its latest battle. CIELA says it has been receiving weekly updates from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding its complaint about the hybrid agent’s “misleading representations” within its website and TV advertising. In its statement released to media outlets, CIELA is clearly confident that its arguments to the ASA have done the trick, and that “we look forward to the outcome”. Although CIELA admits that nothing within Purplebricks’ communications is inaccurate, it says the company’s comparisons of its up-front flat fee with a tradition agent’s commission is “irresponsible and misleading”. Elements of its complaint to the ASA were repeated within a Daily Telegraph article published in May, in which CIELA chief executive Charlie Wright questioned Purplebricks’ high completed sales claims. Following the article, CIELA was contacted by Purplebricks’ lawyers and, after responding, CIELA says it has not heard anything since, saying it was “nothing but sabre rattling and a hollow threat”. Membership drive CIELA has also revealed why it believes the number of agents joining the organisation has not been as large as expected. “The last three months have been absolutely…
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CIELA launch unlikely now as agents stay away
The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) says it is unlikely to launch on October 1st as planned. The announcement comes after just 5% of agents who pre-registered with the organisation signed up to pay its pre-launch £35 a month memberships fee. CIELA, which revealed its plans begin a new mutual body for independent agents in January this year, says it has yet to attract enough paying members to be able to launch. “While we have received very strong vocal support, thousands of agents visiting our website and much encouragement from agents and suppliers we meet, this is not translating into membership sign-ups,” says CIELA founder Charles Wright. “Less than 5% of the hundreds of agents who pre-registered with us declaring their support when we first announced our intention to form have actually proceeded to join.” “It seems to be a case of chicken and egg. Everyone agrees the independent industry needs a collective voice to improve its national reputation, but hardly anyone seems willing to risk even £35 a month to support it. “The wait-and-see problem will cause CIELA to die before launch, unless it’s overcome. Everyone is waiting for everyone else to join first. Or, there…
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Historic photo? CIELA members snapped at first meeting
Behold CIELA, or the Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents, in the flesh. This photograph was taken at their inaugural gathering in Bicester, Oxfordshire yesterday where they spent five hours discussing the challenges that smaller agents face. The CIELA members talked about the many several ways independent agents could take on the corporates including in one of the most pressing areas – communications. The group discussed how public relations could harness the collective power of independent agents and take on the “misleading marketing” put about the larger estate agency firms. Serious challenges Luke Gidney, owner of Let Leeds letting agency, said: “As an industry, we have never faced so many serious challenges at once. We urgently need a united voice now, without corporate influence.” Vivienne Harris, owner of Heathgate Properties in London, said: “Currently we are an industry that is under attack. We need an organisation that can lobby government and educate the public on what it is we actually do.” The discussions also swung round to the group’s dislike of online-only and “fake agent” agents, as well as how to use independent agents’ sales and lettings data to produce the UK’s most up-to-date and accurate house price and rental…
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