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Rents still under pressure
UK Rents fell again in June, new data from the HomeLet Rental Index reveals, with the typical new agreed rent 0.3% lower than in June 2016.
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Proptech firm launches Facebook style app for apartment blocks
A German proptech company has launched a digital property management platform that claims to be the first in the world to enable property managers and apartment block residents to communicate directly in real time with, and among, each other. It’s a bit like a Facebook group and enables everyone to communicate, chat-style, with each other including the block’s property manager, in real time. Co-founder Bruno Acar (pictured, below) says it’s different from existing property management software tools, which tend to be aimed at agents. He says that instead his platform is designed to be used by the whole community within a block. HomeBeat.Live is an app as well as a desktop platform and residents can use it to talk to each other, as well as tell the building’s property manager about service and maintenance issues. It will also make apartment blocks more social as residents can chat to each other too. “Structurally it’s also a better approach because that way data and platform remain part of the building regardless of any change in service provider,” says Bruno. Other advantages of the platform are that it enables property managers to update all the residents in an apartment block about issues such…
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ZPG says its vendor leads have surged by a third
ZPG has revealed that the number of vendor leads it has passed on to its agent customers has increased by a third just days after OnTheMarket announced it is to raise £50 via a flotation on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM. The company, which operates Zoopla and PrimeLocation, the UK’s second and third largest property portals in the UK by the number of agents listed on its sites and traffic, says it has so far sent 300,000 vendor leads and over 13.7 million applicant leads to its members so far this year. This, ZPG claims, has created fees for its member agents worth £225m. But although the company claims the pick-up is largely down to its online home valuation tools, the increase in vendor leads is also an early signal that the UK sales market may be picking up. Leads from vendors seeking an agent to sell their home increased by 31% compared to the first six months of last year, ZPG says. “[ZPG] continues to generate more appraisal leads than any other website as a result of [our] unique valuation tools,” says Mark Goddard, Managing Director of ZPG’s Property division. “We continue to deliver the best value and most…
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Purplebricks shares drop by 6% following BBC investigation
Shares in hybrid estate agent Purplebricks dropped by nearly 6% following the BBC’s Your and Yours programme in which the company’s CEO Michael Bruce defended claims that it had made misleading claims to customers. Following the programme, which was broadcast at a 12.15pm yesterday on Radio 4, the Purplebricks PLC share price dropped from a high of £4.78p to £3.92p before rallying at 4.38p. Purplebricks’ share price has been dropping since July 24th when it peaked at an all-time high of £5.13p, but today has been one of the more dramatic drops, dipping by 5.77% or 26.9p in one afternoon. On 5th July Purplebricks faced criticism from the Advertising Standards Authority following a complaint from West Sussex estate agent Arun Estates, which had complained to the ASA about ‘fees saved’ case studies on the Purplebricks website which it believed were misleading under ASA advertising codes. The complaint was upheld. During the You & Yours programme presenter Winifred Robinson claimed the hybrid estate agent has been making “exaggerated claims that it’s already been banned from making by the advertising regulator” in emails to existing and potential customers seen by the BBC programme Watchdog. Purplebricks has been censured six times over the…
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Rightmove revenue per agent rises by 10%, latest results show
The latest Rightmove results reveal that it has increased how much it receives in revenue from each agent every month by 10% year on year from £789 to £865. It also says it has seen a 1% increase in the number of agencies listing with the portal, in part due to the number of Purplebricks Local Property Experts listing on the site as ‘branch equivalents’. Rightmove says the price rise has come from an increase in prices and agents signing up to additional services, in particular its Optimiser product which helps an agent’s properties stand out more in their local area. Some 2,000 member agents have signed up to the service thus far, up from 1,000 a year ago, and Rightmove says agents who sign up to the package spend a minimum of £1,500 a month compared to the £780 average revenue per agent spent by non-Optimiser agents. Reporting on risks and uncertainties in the coming months within the UK housing market, Rightmove paints a relatively gloomy picture. It highlights how housing transactions were down 8% during the first six months of the year compared to last year, although it points out that transaction are up compared to the same period…
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How to turn staff mugshots into great PR
People make snap judgements, says PR man Jerry Lyons – so it’s really important to make the right impression with a great photo.
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Scarborough landlord licensing scheme launched
Town is latest of over 35 selective licensing schemes to be introduced over past two years.
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Just Giving page in memory of young estate agent raises £13,945
The family of a young estate agent who died in tragic circumstances on 1st April this year have raised nearly £14,000 in his memory via Just Giving, funds from which are to be donated to a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide. 23-year-old Alex Quealy, who is believed to have worked for his family’s estate agency in the town of Sittingbourne, took his own life after a night out socialising with friends in Canterbury. He was found soon afterwards by his younger brother at his home on the western outskirts of the city. Paramedics were called but Alex was pronounced dead at the scene. During the inquest at Margate Magistrates Court last week Coroner Ian Goldup said Alex had showed no signs of suicidal thoughts but had been struggling with “the pressures of modern life and dyslexia”, it was reported. His father Dee Quealy told Kent Live that “We would like to raise money in Alexander’s memory so that other young men realise they are not alone and can be offered the support they need through troubling times. “Alexander was a lovely young man, he was kind, generous, good looking, loved by his close family and friends and had so…
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Catfest event launched by Julian O’Dell
Estate agency trainer and Negotiator columnist Julian O’Dell and his wife Cat are hosting their third annual fundraiser music festival “Catfest.”
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Landlord confidence shrinks as government squeeze continues
The damage inflicted on the buy-to-let market by the government’s squeeze on landlord finances is laid bare by an in-depth report into the sector published today. Lender Kent Reliance says landlord confidence has shrunk alarmingly. Only 41% of those it canvassed say they have a positive outlook for their portfolios, down from 67% three years ago. The Buy To Let Britain report also says a quarter of landlords are finding it harder to get buy-to-let mortgages following the tighter lending rules introduced by the Prudential Regulation Authority. And faced with higher personal tax bills following the recent tax changes which restrict the amount of mortgage interest landlords can claim relief on, many are now moving their properties to limited company structures, the report says. Kent Reliance says 44% of all buy-to-let loan applications it received in the first three months of this year were from limited companies. And a quarter of landlords are considering moving their properties to the ownership of spouses in a bid to mitigate their tax liabilities. “A perfect storm of weakening house prices, higher taxes and lending restrictions have knocked investors’ confidence,” says Andy Golding, Chief Executive of Kent Reliance’s parent company OneSavings Bank (pictured, left).…
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