Russell Quirk
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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 –…
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Looking online, Russell? eMoov offices to be turned into apartments
Online estate agent eMoov says it is looking for a new HQ after the company revealed that its premises are to be turned into flats. eMoov, which has been at its offices in Brentwood, Essex since the company started up in 2010, says it will have to move out of its 3,500 sq ft HQ when the lease on New North House (pictured, right) expires at the end of this month. CEO Russell Quirk says recent changes to planning rules that allow councils to approve more offices being turned into homes, means the company’s offices are to soon become a dozen apartments after permitted development rights were granted by local planners. Russell (pictured, left) told the local paper that, because of the change of use for the building – and a lack of office space in Brentwood – meant the business and its 45 headquarters staff would move to London. “Brentwood is my home and has been the home of eMoov since we launched in 2010,” he said. “Sadly, it’s looking like it can no longer be such for expanding businesses given the propensity for office owners to convert their assets to residential now that the Government has allowed Permitted…
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Latest property news
House prices make a surprise return to growth
House prices have rebounded and are rising by 4% a year, lender the Halifax has revealed in its latest house price index. The surprise rise was driven by an 0.8% hike during September, the second month during which house prices have picked up, driving up the year-on-year increase figure from 2.6% in August. This has also pushed up the average house price to £225,109, the highest ever figure. “UK house prices continue to be supported by an ongoing shortage of properties for sale and solid growth in full-time employment,” says Russell Galley, Managing Director of Halifax Community Bank (pictured, left). “However, increasing pressure on spending power and continuing affordability concerns may well dampen buyer demand.” The bank says property sales in the UK “remained flat” in August but exceeded 100,000 for the eighth month in succession, although mortgage approvals fell during August by 2.7% when compared to July. New instructions Using RICS data, the Halifax also says new sales instruction fell for the 18th month in a row although overall the average stock on estate agents’ books edged up by 1% during September. “It seems more than apparent that the UK market has found its feet and is starting to…
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eMoov moves with the money: £9million
Hybrid agent secures further funding from equity investment companies to enhance its technology platform.
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Latest property news
Online agent’s latest property price map… bombs
Estate agents are always publishing guides to local, regional and national property markets but online agent eMoov has produced one of the more unusual ones. The company has launched a report on where to buy a home should you wish to avoid the major impact zones that would be created by an all-out nuclear attack on the UK. The company believes the tensions between the US and North Korea stand a good chance of triggering World War Three and is concerned what this might mean for the UK property market. Rather than build a nuclear bunker, as most Swiss did during the Cold War years of the 1970s and 1980s, eMoov suggests buying a home outside the areas most likely to be bombed by the intrepid North Korean air force, which eMoov concedes has a way to go before it is able to target the UK. eMoov has launched what is calls a ‘nukemap’ as a handy guide to fall-out averse home hunters, although they will have to be rural enthusiasts; the agent believes most of the UK’s cities will be bombed including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Hull, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cambridge, Norwich, Oxford, London, Bristol, Swansea, Southampton, Brighton,…
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OnTheMarket.com is losing traffic and branches, claims online agent
Emoov and its founder Russell Quirk have launched an extraordinary broadside against OnTheMarket.com during which Quirk suggests it is showing “signs of terminal decline” and calls for it to drop its two-portal rule. eMoov says it has looked at data from web monitoring service Hitwise that reveals how traffic to OnTheMarket.com declined during February both year-on-year and month-on-month. Visits to the website in February were down 38% versus January, although it’s part of a seasonal trend; ZPG and Rightmove’s traffic figures were also down, by 2% each. Web traffic tends to surge during January after the festive break and then drop back down again in February. eMoov also says OnTheMarket is “haemorrhaging” branches in recent weeks and that, based on its own research among the portal’s listings, they declined by “almost 200” over the past three weeks and “looks set to fall below levels seen this time last year”,” it says. “This data highlights that two years on and despite tens of millions of pounds of investment, OnTheMarket’s audience remains a small fraction of the main portals and appears to be declining as users are clearly not engaged with the brand or proposition,” says Russell Quirk (pictured, left) OnTheMarket says it…
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Agencies & People
eMoov’s crowdfunding campaign raises £2.6m
eMoov has raised just over £2.6 million, more than two and half times its target, after attracting 795 individual investors through crowdfunding on Crowdcube. Among the major investors were two venture capital groups, Episode 1 Ventures and Maxfield Capital Partners, which both increased their investment in the online estate agency, while Swiss VC firm Startive Ventures also joined in the funding round. Alexander Lazarev, Partner at Maxfield Capital Partners, said, “eMoov’s crowdfunding success is a clear indication of a long awaited transformation of an old-fashioned industry. eMoov disrupts estate agency by providing significant savings and high quality customer services. “I am glad that crowdfunding investors have recognized this unique opportunity and contributed their capital to eMoov.” Episode 1 and Maxfield Capital have contributed £500,000 and £300,000 respectively, with Startive investing £250,000. In addition, London-based accelerator Seedcamp has also reinvested with £50,000. “We have made unbelievable progress over the last 24 months and this smart money demonstrates the confidence that the professionals have in our business,” said Russell Quirk, CEO and Founder of eMoov. Episode 1’s Managing Partner, Simon Murdoch, was an early stage investor in Zoopla, Betfair, Shutl and LOVEFiLM, and now he believes that the estate agency industry is…
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