We’re ‘getting ready to change our pricing model’ says Purplebricks CEO

Purplebricks CEO Vic Darvey has confirmed on Sky news this lunchtime that the hybrid estate agency intends to change its pricing model and is preparing to test out several options with customers to see what ‘consumers think’.

The company currently offers a £899 service excluding viewings which costs £1,399 in London payable either up-front or on completion.

Brought on to the programme to talk about stamp duty and the damage it is doing to some parts of the property market, Darvey was also quizzed about his plans for the business, which he joined in May.

Darvey said Purplebricks has gone ‘from nothing’ in a few years to being the largest estate agency in the UK and that he now wanted to pause its development and look at what needs doing next, and restated the agency’s oft-repeated claim that it will soon hold a 10% share of the house sales market.

“We’re looking at evolving the pricing and will be in market with a series of tests and customers will tell us whether we’ve got that right or wrong,” he said.

Stamp duty

Darvey revealed research during the programme that only one in four homeowners believe Boris Johnson will follow-up on his campaign promise to abolish stamp duty for homes below £500,000, and that the changes brought in by then chancellor George Osborne has prompted 8% fewer homes to be sold every year.

Darvey also said the didn’t believe predictions by the Institute of Fiscal Studies that the policy would cost the government £3.5 billion in lost tax revenue.