NAEA
-
Latest property news
Times research suggests links between high estate agent fees and over-valuations.
Newspaper's researchers looked at 200,000 recent sales transactions and concluded many leading agents with high fees over-value homes.
Read More » -
Latest property news
NAEA ‘surprise’ at 250% money laundering supervision fee rise
Estate agent are to face a significant rise in the supervision fees they pay HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). From May 1 this year all estate agencies with a turnover of more than £5,000 must pay £300 a year to be registered for money laundering supervision, while those with a turnover under £5,000 must pay £180 a year. The current annual fee is £130. HMRC says the rise is needed to fund more staff to track down agents who are not compliant with the UK’s money laundering regulations, and to increase the level of education and training. “While we welcome the increased resources from HMRC to tackle the issues around anti-money laundering, we are somewhat surprised at the significant uplift in fees in the region of 250%, particularly at a time when the industry is beleaguered by additional legislation,” says Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark. “However, we look forward to seeing more enforcement activity as a result of the increase.” The fee increases, which apply to all businesses required to register under money laundering regulations including estate agents, accountants and banks, are on top of several other charges levied by HMRC. This includes a £40 fee per employee to…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Leading developers sign leasehold reform pledge, but critics claim it’s ‘cobbled together’
Housing minister James Brokenshire claims the initiative will further support existing and future leaseholders by protecting them from onerous fees.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Estate agency quits high street AND Rightmove in same week
Cornish estate agent PDQ Estates is to close its branch in Helston and has quit Rightmove, its managing director Chris Wood has revealed. PDQ has been trading for 18 years from the address but Wood says that, after its lease came up for renegotiation, he decided to enact a long-planned strategy to take his business off the high street into action. The 51-year-old says much of his agency’s work is now done remotely on the road, on social media or at home and that this is a “logical move for our clients”. “If you know your local area well, know your job well, why in today’s world of social media, 3D and 4K photography, must you have a high street presence?” he says. “Whilst I will undoubtedly lose some business from more traditional sellers, I am confident I will be able to more than offset this in other ways.” PDQ is the third well-known agency to abandon the high street in recent months following both Orchards in London and national agency Humberts. Wood’s company has only ever operated one branch but his profile has been somewhat larger than his business. He helped Tesco develop its hybrid model during the mid-noughties,…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Phil Spencer: Why are thousands of leasehold houses still being sold?
TV presenter Phil Spencer has savaged new homes builders for continuing to sell leasehold houses despite the recent miss-selling scandal that rocked the construction industry. His property advice site MoveIQ says its research shows 2,600 leasehold houses have been sold since the government announced it would introduce a ban a year ago. The revelation is shocking because many of these houses are being sold via the tax-payer funded Help to Buy scheme. MoveIQ says Land Registry figures show 26,024 new-build properties have been sold with leaseholds since last December’s government announcement, 2,644 of which were houses. And data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows that during the first six months of 2018, nearly 6,000 leasehold homes were bought with assistance from the Help to Buy scheme, of which 1,340 were houses. Financial problems Buyers can face crippling financial problems after they move in. This includes huge ground rent increases and finding they are unable to sell their homes while some are charged large sums to make even minor changes to their homes. Earlier this year the NAEA conducted research that found a third of those who had bought leasehold houses had subsequently struggled to sell them.…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Christmas slowdown ‘more severe’ as politicians squabble over Brexit
The NAEA has blamed growing weakness in the housing market on the continued polticial uncertainty being created by Brexit.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Is this the beginning of a leasehold mis-selling scandal?
A Manchester and Birmingham law firm FS Legal has launched a class action leasehold mis-selling actions against dozens of conveyancing firms.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Government moves to ban leasehold houses and cap ground rents at £10
The Government is to consult on measures to ban houses being sold via leasehold agreements and to cap ground rents at £10.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Former MD of troubled estate agency Humberts joins presidential team of NAEA
The NAEA and ARLA have both ushered in their new presidential teams following the Propertymark annual general meeting and dinner at London’s Savoy hotel on Friday, including the appointment of Ian Westerling (pictured, right) as Vice President of NAEA. Ian recently stepped down as Managing Director of Humberts after the ailing firm was sold to a travel company, and now holds a ‘special projects’ role at the company. He is joined by Mark Bentley (pictured, left) of Birmingham agency Paul Carr who replaces outgoing President Katie Griffin, and Lauren Scott of Whitley Bay firm Trading Places (pictured, below) who is now President Elect. As well as looking forward to meeting the fellow member agents, Mark says he also wants to work “with the Propertymark board in encouraging the government to move forward with their indicated intention to look to regulate the sector and to find a way to speed up the house buying and selling process”. ARLA ARLA’s new team at the top is Peter Savage (pictured, left), who is now the organisation’s president, replacing Sally Lawson. Peter has been ARLA president before during 2015/16 and is chairman of Oxfordshire lettings agency Simplify Housing, the website for which was…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Revealed: how much rogue estate agents are damaging the industry
The extent to which rogue estate agents are damaging the industry’s reputation has been laid bare today by new research. The problems are most acute in the private rental sector,but affect all of it. For example, 41% of tenants who used an ‘approved’ letting agent signed up to a professional body said problems with their property were fixed within a week, but only 25% of those used an ‘unapproved’ agent received the same service. The research, which covers transactions over the past five years and was completed by Propertymark, highlights the most common problems tenants encounter including poor property management, the slow replacement of faulty furnishings and white goods, and a reluctance to return deposits fast enough. Propertymark’s research also highlights a key challenge faced by the industry as a whole. Rogue estate agents Over a third of buyers and sellers, and 42% of renters don’t bother to check if the agent they are using has signed up to the key regulatory bodies or is a member of a professional organisation – leaving the door open for rogue estate agents. This is creating significant problems for the industry’s reputation, the research shows. Over half of all the buyers, vendors and…
Read More »
