Lucy Morton
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The Negotiator Conference & Expo 2019
The grand halls and corridors of London’s Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane were buzzing with hundreds of delegates, speakers and exhibitors on the 29th November 2019, as they arrived to join The Negotiator Conference 2019. In this stunning venue, with a reputation for first class guest speakers and panel sessions offering hard hitting debate between property leaders such as Michael Stoop, Nick Leeming, Lucy Morton, Lord Best, Peter Bolton King and David Cox (plus many more), The Negotiator Conference stage was ready. Lord Best drew gasps from the audience when he suggested that the end of the small or ‘accidental’ landlord is nigh, that the PRS will increasingly be supplied by larger-portfolio operators. The focus was the property industry in 2020 – exploring what the future holds for sales and letting agents in today’s volatile business environment, including Brexit, regulation, customer hesitation, technology, online agents, diminishing high street footfall, taxation, money laundering, tenant fees and (the then) looming General Election. Brilliantly chaired by The Times columnist Lord Daniel Finkelstein OBE, speakers included leading estate agency senior management, industry consultants, analysts, regulators, industry association chiefs and tech innovators. Going to conferences is more than just listening to debates and, as ever…
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Latest property news
Were you there for the industry’s greatest talking shop?
The Negotiator Conference last Friday saw some 600 agents sign up to attend but if you weren’t there, here a round-up of the key debates that took place.
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Movers & Shakers
Mayfair and Marylebone’s new lettings expert
JLL has appointed George Vernon (MRICS / MARLA) to help establish a dedicated Mayfair and Marylebone lettings team...
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Latest property news
Fees ban consultation was just “tick box exercise” says ARLA
The Queen’s Speech today contained a promise to introduce a letting fees ban for both agents and landlords and “promote fairness and transparency in the housing market”. But in a surprise move, the government also revealed that it is to cap deposits at one week’s rent, rather than the six weeks’ rent that is most common within the sector at the moment. But the measures announced in the Queen’s Speech have been criticised by ARLA Propertymark, which describes them as “disappointing”. “It’s unlikely the Government had enough time to analyse all of the responses from the consultation, as it only closed 12 working days ago, on the 2nd June,” says David Cox, its Chief Executive (pictured, left). “It appears they had already made their decision and therefore the consultation was no more than a ‘tick box’ exercise and they haven’t appropriately taken the industry’s views into account. “A ban on letting agent fees will cost the sector jobs, make buy-to-let investment even less attractive, and ultimately result in the costs being passed on to tenants.” David also believes that, given the amount of work letting agents put into preparing tenancies and managing properties, it is “only right and proportionate that…
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Latest property news
148-year-old W.A.Ellis disappears into JLL fold
One of the oldest names in the property industry is to disappear from the high street next year when W.A.Ellis, which has been around since 1868, rebrands as JLL, it has been announced. The company has for many years had a large office on London’s Brompton Road but was acquired by commercial and residential giant JLL in October 2014. At the time, the writing was on already on the wall and despite a statement talking of ‘expanding the success of the W.A.Ellis business’, it was clear JLL intended to dispense with the brand after a ‘period of time’. JLL is currently undergoing an aggressive push into London’s prime residential market, and a spokesperson said of the rebrand: “It’s just a rename to bring it in line with the rest of JLL’s residential estate agency business”. This is despite W.A.Ellis being a high-profile name within London’s prime market. It’s headed up by senior industry figure Lucy Morton, who set up the W.A.Ellis lettings department in 1990. She has also been a president of ARLA and won numerous honours including Estate Agency Leader of the Year at 2011’s Negotiator Awards. She is to remain at the newly unified JLL operation as its…
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