An online estate agent claims there may be too many estate agents' offices on the streets of London, with seven particular boroughs each having more than 100 branches.
HouseSimple claims that local residents worry about the lack of diversity on their high streets because there are, on average, 83 estate agent branches in every London borough.
Wandsworth, which includes popular areas such as Balham, Putney and Wandsworth Town, has 153 while Westminster has even more, at 179. Others over the magic 100 mark include Bromley (110), Camden (109), Kensington & Chelsea (127) and Tower Hamlets (131).
It total, HouseSimple claims there are 2,661 branches across Greater London and that in 2014 they earned a total of £1.18 billion in fees.
HouseSimple claims that the proliferation of agency offices is comparable to the effect wreaked by major retailers and higher rents in squeezing out independent shops.
Within 400 metres of tube stations, the online agency claims that Walthamstow has 18 estate agents' offices while Wimbledon, Ealing Broadway and Borough each have 15 agents and Canary Wharf and Notting Hill Gate each have 14.
Alex Gosling, HouseSimple's chief executive, says it's easy for estate agents to set up shop, and by continuing to charge exorbitant fees to home sellers, they can afford to pay the rent on less than four sales a month.
HouseSimple's calculations on fees were made using Rightmove price and search data.
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Comments
If the number of estate agent office increase for the same organisations year on year, then yes you have a problem. However, if you are new estate agent, for example, you have every right to compete in the same market. Just as the comment above spoke about the in-differential circumstances with takeaway shops! Although, I would have expected to see the rate of estate agent offices decrease, especially with how the online sphere plays a huge roll for both estate agents and buyers.
There are to many estate agent offices in most towns across the country. However, I feel that what this guy is really trying to say is that there should be NO offices, and it should all be done online.
If that was what the public wanted, why on earth are so many high street branches still opening Why are the corporate still expanding and acquiring
One could argue that there are too many online agents no As they all offer pretty much the same service, without any personality or individual characters to distinguish themselves (one of the key benefits a high street agent can offer), why not just have one giant online agent for all the cheapskates who aren't serious about finding a buyer
I agree that some of London's streets are becoming overloaded with estate agents. How many agencies does a place need, even in very popular areas such as Wimbledon, Balham and Ealing Broadway It just means streets lack any real individuality or character.
More to the point, how do all these offices do business In one area, I know of two estate agents standing right next to each other. There's a difference between competition and over-saturation of the market, and I think we're probably reaching that level now.
People must be using these offices, I suppose, for there to be so many of them, but the amount of agencies is getting a little bit ridiculous.
Totally agree :)
So, Alex Gosling wants to limit choice
It could be said that some think there are too many shoe shops, dress shops, take-aways etc. The market will decide who succeeds or fails. We do not need a dictatorship to decide whether of not we have choice.