propertymark
-
Latest property news
Rents rising in Wales after fees ban, say tenants!
Leading renters' union says evidence from its membership reveals rising rents as landlords and letting agents try to recoup the extra costs introduced by the ban.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Will Brexit prevent estate agents working in the EU?
Bill put forward by the Prime Minister yesterday makes no mention of how Brexit will affect schemes such as the European Professional Card for estate agents.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Senior industry figure launches novel solution to the housing crisis
Peter Savage is to use his experience in property development, lettings and modular homes to offer local authorities a different and more affordable temporary housing solution.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Deposit disputes ‘set to rise’ if agents bring inventories in-house after ban
TDS, Propertymark and AIIC are all worried that inventory quality will dip as agents try to cut costs after June 1st.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Winners! UK’s best estate agents win gongs at Westminster ceremony
Read our report from the 2018 Propertymark Qualifications Awards winners' ceremony at Westminster where the estate agents who won got their awards.
Read More » -
Charity
Propertymark staff sleep rough for YMCA
Seven hardy members of staff from Propertymark in Warwick spent a night sleeping rough in support of YMCA Coventry and Warwickshire’s Sleep Easy project.
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 » -
Latest property news
Gazumping to be outlawed? Government to consider buyer lock-ins
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has launched another call for evidence, this time as part of a government push to reform the buying process which could see gazumping outlawed. Just days after revealing he wanted to make life fairer for leaseholders, Sajid says he wants to hear from estate agents, solicitors and mortgage lenders about how to stop gazumping, reduce time wasting and ensuring buyers commit to a sale. In his call for evidence, the Communities Secretary says mistrust between parties is one of the biggest issues faced by the industry and wants to introduce lock-in agreement to improve it, highlighting how a quarter of house purchases fall through each year. Other measures include ‘encouraging’ sellers to provide more information before they put their property on the market – which sounds like a ‘lite’ version of Labour’s Home Information Packs – and encourage more digital innovation to help speed up the buying process by making more data available online. This refers to more recent innovations such as the blockchain technology developed by Bitcoin that enables processes to move forward automatically without the need for huge amounts of paperwork and human intervention. The first property in the UK – a retail unit –…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Women fill key positions at Propertymark for first time
ARLA and NAEA Propertymark have revealed who won their recent leadership elections following a secret four-week hustings. Billed as an opportunity that “allows you to shape your organisation and to have your voice heard” the election was for both organisations’ Vice Presidents, whose role is to support the President and President Elect. The elected Vice Presidents are Michelle Niziol for ARLA, who agents will recognise from BBC TV’s The Apprentice from last year, and Lauren Scott for NAEA. It is the first time women have been elected to both positions at the same time. The new line up is: ARLA President Sally Lawson Sally has 27 years’ experience in the lettings industry, and is CEO and Founder of the national lettings franchise Concentric as well as West Midlands lettings agency Lawsons. The two organisations merged recently. President Elect Peter Savage A former professional drummer until the mid-1980s Peter then set up a property business in Spain, which he sold in 1990 and then returned to the UK. He now works as a consultant to an Essex lettings firm and a block management firm. Vice President Michelle Niziol Until recently 35-year-old Michelle was best known as a founder of IMS,…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Start of the revival? ‘More people asking for home valuations’
The number of home valuations being requested by homeowners has risen by 26% this spring despite the uncertainty in the market created by Brexit and tomorrow’s General Election. Call answering company Moneypenny logs the calls made to agents via its service and says valuation requests for March, April and June this year increased when compared with the same months last year. “It’s encouraging to see such a large increase in people wanting to book home valuations this spring,” says Samantha Jones, the company’s Commercial Manager. “There was so much activity that affected the property market last year such as the Referendum in June and subsequent changes in Government that people will have been cautious about progressing with sales.” Moneypenny’s figures also appear to show increasing interest among buyers; it says call requesting property detail increased by 9% by the same measure, while calls to book property viewings rose by 8%. “The ‘let’s sit tight’ attitude of last spring is ebbing away as home sellers and buyers return to market,” says Samantha. “The truth is, regardless of political changes, we still get married, divorced, have children and so on. Our needs don’t go away so the market has to move so…
Read More »
