Foxtons
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Latest property news
Foxtons brushes aside worries with two new offices
Foxtons has announced that it is to open two new branches in London next month, despite recent disappointing sales results. The company’s two new branches are both to be in traditionally football-focussed areas of the capital. These are Wood Green, next door to Tottenham Hotspurs’ ground at White Hart Lane, and Wembley. This brings the company’s total to 67 within London and, the company says, is in line with its ‘organic growth strategy’. Foxtons opened seven offices last year and these, like the latest two, have mostly been in London’s outer suburban areas where, the company believes, there are the greatest opportunities. Earlier this month the company reported that its profits for 2016 were likely to be down 45% and revenue down 11%. The company at the time blamed a ‘subdued’ market. This hasn’t dented confidence within the senior team, it would seem. Andrew Weir, Foxtons Sales Managing Director, says: “We are thrilled to be continuing our planned expansion with the launch of our new London offices. “Last year saw us proving our commitment to customer service by achieving an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 across all of our branches on Google reviews and the highest rating of…
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Latest property news
Foxtons reports profits down by 45% year-on-year
Foxtons has reported a dismal performance during 2016 including total group revenue down by 11% from £150m in 2015 to £133m, and profits for the year likely to be down by 45% year-on-year. Foxtons’ CEO Nic Budden (pictured) also warns that 2017 is likely to be equally painful for the company, saying that “should current levels of sales activity continue in the short term, it is likely that 2017 volumes will be below those in 2016”. The company’s trading statement released today blames the dramatic decreases in turnover and profits on significant drops in sales volumes as the market continues to be “subdued”. Its lettings revenues remained constant during the final three months of the year at £13m compared to the same period the year before, which Foxtons says it down to its “high levels of renewals despite lower levels of new tenant activity and some downward pressure on rents arising from increased stock”. “Despite a challenging year across the residential property markets, we have continued to make good progress in respect of our strategic initiatives, including building our presence in PRS and new homes, and leveraging our technology using data analytics and digital marketing to enhance our customer proposition,”…
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Foxtons branch fined for not explaining tenant administration fee
Foxtons has been fined £2,500 after a tenant administration fee it charges was found to be not adequately explained. The sanction follows an inspection by Trading Standards at its Stratford branch near the Olympic Park in East London. The London Borough of Newham has been cracking down on agents all over the borough over the past two years as part of its Fair Lettings Project, which has sent out reminders about agents’ “obligations to consumers” and inspection teams dispatched to check branches to “ensure they don’t rip off tenants or landlords”. Foxtons was visited in January last year by a local Trading Standards officer who found that a £425 tenant administration fee charged to prospective tenants was not properly detailed. Despite the error being pointed out by the officer, the fee remained unexplained at the branch for several months and a penalty charge of £2,500 was accepted by Foxtons. “The Newham initiative was introduced to ensure that all of the 200 or so residential letting agents in the borough are complying with legislation designed to stop tenants being exploited,” the council says. “This includes ensuring that fees are transparent, that deposits are protected and that agents have fair terms and conditions.”…
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In a nutshell: the property share price freefall
If the share price of the UK’s residential stockmarket-listed corporates are the bellwether of the industry’s future health then estate agents should be battening down the hatches. Investors in London’s stock exchange clearly think Brexit, the recent Stamp Duty increases and last week’s letting fees ban are going to make selling or renting homes harder and less profitable in the coming months. Share prices have dropped alarmingly. Compared to a year ago when Brexit was still only a possibility, Countrywide’s share price is down by 52%, Foxtons by 37%, LSL Property Services by 33%, Belvoir Lettings by 15.7% and Savills by 13.9%. Even the industry’s digital superstars, so beloved of the City in recent years, have taken substantial hits including Purplebricks (-31%) and Rightmove (-11%) although Zoopla, whose model has helped its share price grow since August, is only down by half a percent as is Belvoir Lettings. Savills has also done better during the recent bloodbath which UBS analyst Heidi Richardson says is because the stockmarket knows only 9% of its sales come from selling homes in the UK. Purplebricks survived the lettings fees ban much better than its more traditional competitors after rushing out a statement that the…
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Is latest Foxtons branch opening such a bright idea?
The 64th Foxtons branch opening in London and the home counties is about to happen, featuring its signature café-style layout, design and green frontage. But it’s not been plain sailing for the agent, which is busy readying the site for its inaugural opening; window displays were still empty and builders appeared to be still working on the site when The Negotiator paid a visit. Missing from the front is any of the signature illuminated signage that most Foxtons are famous for, after planners turned down the company’s original plans for the site (see below) although change of use was eventually granted. Lambeth’s Assistant Director of Planning & Development David Joyce said in May this year that the advertisement (as he calls the illuminated sign) would be an “unduly dominant feature in the streetscene” and “detrimental to visual amenity” which is possibly his convoluted way of say “too garish.” He also said the signage, which in the plans was fairly small by Foxtons’ standards, was “unlikely to preserve, protect or enhance the locally listed buildings and the neighbouring Albert Embankment Conservation Area.” The branch is also being created within what was the headquarters of homelessness charity The Big Issue, whose magazine sellers…
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Latest property news
Brexit result worries the stock market
Housebuilders, banks and property agencies slip and slide as confusion reigns.
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Features
My time at the top
Peter Rollings famously helped steer Foxtons and more recently Marsh & Parsons to phenomenal success. Nigel Lewis meets him as he looks back on his career.
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Agencies & People
Stock options
Buy, sell, hold? Overperforming, underperforming – what does it mean when Rightmove shares go up, or Barratt falls out of bed?
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Features
How hot is your high street?
Everyone talks about national or regional figures for sales and lettings, but what’s it really like on the ground near you? Nigel Lewis finds out in Streatham, South West London.
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Latest property news
Foxtons’ profits fall
Foxtons saw pre-tax profits fall by 2.6 per cent in 2015 as the slowdown in the central London housing market, where prices are falling, adversely impacted on its business. The decline in profits to £41 million from £42.1 million was in line with expectations for the FTSE 250 indexed company, which previously warned of property headwinds in the market, causing its shares price to fall. The volume of homes changing hands in the capital fell by seven per cent in November 2015, compared with the corresponding month a year earlier, according to Land Registry figures. But the expansion of Foxtons’ mortgage broking business, which increased revenues by 31.8 per cent, helped to compensate for slower growth in income from sales as well as lettings. But in spite of the fall in profits, group revenue was up for the year to 31st December, rising 4.1 per cent to £149.8 million, supported in part by the opening of seven new branches last year, bringing the total at year end to 58. Foxtons plan to open a further seven offices this year, as part of a wider strategy to increase their coverage within the M25 area to 100 offices within the next five…
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