Archive

An extensive culling of branches and staff continues apace at Countrywide as it significantly reduces the size of both its office...

One of the country's largest group of independent agencies has named its new chief executive officer - and says it’s a...

One of the country’s major regional agencies has unveiled a ‘super hub’ structure which began life as a lockdown measure but...

The Property Franchise Group has named high-profile industry veteran Eric Walker as managing director of Martin & Co (South and Scotland).  Walker...

The scale of the problems facing many prospective buyers has been set out in a survey showing as many as one-third...

One of Countrywide’s biggest shareholders has written a second letter to the company to demand bold action to save the agency...

I want to talk to you about new ways to sell homes. Let's not encourage people to sell but just swap...

The chairman of LSL Property Services - Simon Embley - says he is “increasingly optimistic” about the outlook for the market,...

Earlier this month, it was revealed that property industry bodies have joined a new Code of Practice Steering Group to enact...

A new estate agency Code of Practice is to be written by a group set up by the Royal Institution of Chartered...

The new chief executive of The Property Franchise Group says he anticipates his company’s hybrid arm - EweMove - will go...

“Let’s Zoom later”, “are we Zooming in the morning or afternoon?” “Yeah, I zoomed the client earlier” – variations on these...

A survey of 2,750 buyers and tenants has revealed the aspects of online property listings which they find most annoying. The single...

A former Purplebricks chief has become managing director of an agency aiming to be a national brand. Jim Harris - a former training...

The financial services industry’s much-hyped mortgage holiday scheme, heavily endorsed by the government, could cost home owners hundreds of pounds in...

All my recent Natters have been focused on one particular topic, the coronavirus crisis, for obvious reasons. But there has been...

It’s another Bank Holiday weekend and the first since lockdown was eased and the housing market returns - so perhaps a...

Countrywide has added its weight to the campaign asking the government to allow agents to get back to work - and...

LSL Property Services, parent company of Your Move and Reeds Rain, has named a new chief executive officer taking the helm...

Hunters has expanded its online offering to improve its service to both the sales and lettings sectors - and it’s even...

Hello and here’s the latest daily update to help the industry through these unprecedented times.  If you have any appropriate advice you...

LSL Property Services says one of its measures to “rightsize” the organisation during the Coronavirus crisis will be to put agents...

Welcome to the weekly salute for agents and others in the industry fund-raising for good causes - and we know that...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? My name is Jon Notley and I am the co-founder...

LSL Property Services says the Coronavirus crisis has led to a softening of "lead sales indicators" - and it warns of...

Keller Williams has announced another new market centre, and this time its operating principal is a former Purplebricks territory owner.  JP Downes...

There are fears that the so-called Boris Bounce which saw a surge in activity after the General Election may be hitting...

When Wolverhampton estate agency Thomas Harvey opened its doors more than 50 years ago, mortgages weren’t really part of the equation...

Some of the biggest figures in the industry have given Estate Agent Today their reaction to the news - broken yesterday...

Hello and welcome to the start of a new week - and it’s been a frantic seven days since the last...

The Property Franchise Group - which owns Martin & Co, EweMove and three other brands - is to have a former...

A new market centre operating as a hub for freelance agents has opened in Glasgow. Called KW Evolve it is a Keller...

The mystery of why Countrywide’s crucial sale of its commercial arm has failed to go through as scheduled deepened over the...

LSL Property Services, which embarked on a significant branch closure programme last year, has reported a 16 per cent slump in...

Independent agents in a fast-growing trade body are to be given the opportunity to secure exclusivity on land deals and new...

Suddenly Brexit Day is nearly here. It may have taken three and a half years from the Referendum but the UK will,...

A new analysis from a financial services trade body shows that gross mortgage lending is expected to rise significantly in the...

The Property Franchise Group - which operates five High Street agency brands and the EweMove hybrid - has set up a...

In six years of editing Estate Agent Today, some of my most dramatic moments have been covering the troubles - some...

Chancellors Estate Agents is next month opening its newest branch in Swindon - the first time the company has operated in...

In the firmest sign yet that PropTech has entered the mainstream, Housing Minister Esther McVey recently launched an expert advisory council...

It’s been revealed that Countrywide is involved in a pilot exercise to help the creation of a so-called ‘affordability hub’ for...

Countrywide says it is constantly keeping its current branch structure under review, saying any responsible agency would have to consider the...

A trading statement this morning by LSL Property Services - owners of Reeds Rains, Your Move and Marsh & Parsons -...

It’s easier than you might think. For any agent the challenge of making a business successful is hard work with the focus...

Hello and welcome to the regular Monday Property Jobs Today feature, your chance to catch up with who’s moving where in...

Belvoir has struck an innovative eight-year exclusivity agreement with Dacres, the 20 office estate agency network based in Yorkshire, to deliver...

Troubled online agency Yopa has launched an in-house subsidiary to sell mortgages and other financial services - and not just to Yopa...

Housing minister Esther McVey says Compulsory Purchase Orders and brownfield land registers are to be made digitally transparent.  This will allow CPO...

Since I started working with Zero Deposit for me the market leader in deposit replacement alternatives, the most common question I am...

Countrywide has named Amanda Rendle as a new independent non-executive director of the estate agency group; she joined the board yesterday. Rendle...

An estate agency service in the Lake District has rolled out a new benefit to all its staff - and in...

The boss of a 15+ branch estate agency group has explained how he thinks regulation could 'ruin' the estate agency industry. Simon...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Phil Smith - mio Account manager What is mio and what does...

LSL Property Services, parent firm of Your Move and Reeds Rains, says the company’s branch closure programme was a success with profits...

Who are you and what does it say on your business card? Eric Woodhams F.N.A.E.A. mio Account Manager What is mio and what...

How many of you are in favour of estate agents being licenced? Would most agents rather not be overseen by a regulator...

Estate agents are amongst the workers to suffer the worst fall in wages over the past 10 years according to shock...

Belvoir, the UK's largest property franchise, has changed its name - at least slightly - from Belvoir Lettings to Belvoir Group.  In...

With this summer marking forty years since Margaret Thatcher came to power, her legacy continues to invoke both celebration and consternation...

  Who are you and what does it say on your business card?             Becky Howes, mio Account Manager What...

In the first Q&A Natter for a while, I catch up with Angelica Donati - CEO of Donati Immobiliare Group, PropTech...

An agent with over 29 years of experience has taken over as  chief executive officer at Humberts - just as the...

Hello and welcome to this week’s PJT, the destination where you can catch up with the key moves announced in the...

There was a time when the mere mention of the financial services industry brought with it scorn and mistrust. The issues arising...

LSL Property Services, the parent company of Your Move and Reeds Rains, has substantially 'written down' its investment in online estate...

An estate and lettings agency that has been trading in the centre of Exeter for 12 years has ceased trading and...

Connells Group says investment in PropTech will be the way to safeguard its almost-600 High Street branches - and it’s repeated...

A major restructuring of LSL Property Services has just been announced to shareholders, with substantial numbers of branch closures. The statement says...

LSL Property Services - parent company of Your Move, Reeds Rains and London agency Marsh & Parsons - has given a...

UBS, a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company based in Zurich and Basel, now owns approaching 10 per cent...

The world may be going crazy outside but we’re delighted to tell you that in the estate agency industry it’s still...

Two reports have suggested London’s residential market may be damaged by Brexit - both the past two and a half years...

Belvoir has this morning announced that it has acquired MAB Glos, part of the Mortgage Advice Bureau.  The £3.6m deal, done through...

Orchards of London is abandoning its current branch network and instead opening a single Hub from the middle of next month. Orchards,...

Raffles are in the news as a way of ‘selling’ homes, and not just because an Irish club has won a...

The independent Sutton-based property business Centro PLC has acquired Cheam and Mayfair based Christies Estate Agents Limited.   The new combined agency is...

Speculation is growing that Rightmove could drop out of the prestigious FTSE-100 within the next few days as the stock exchange...

Dare we mention it but this is the final Bank Holiday weekend of the year before Christmas - so what a...

Oakwood Homes, a four-branch sales and lettings agency operating across East Kent, has acquired Parkland Estates, a single-branch firm based in...

Rumours abound over the future of Countrywide, which lost further share value on Friday, closing very slightly down on the day...

One of London’s leading estate agents says Brexit has had at worst a neutral effect on the housing market and may...

The parent company of Your Move, Reeds Rains and other agency brands has succeeded where Foxtons yesterday did not - in...

Countrywide, the troubled estate agency group thought by some to be near collapse, has delayed issuing its interim figures which were...

Hello and welcome to this week’s Property Jobs Today - a slim edition given how quiet the industry is at the...

Countrywide says its Back To Basics strategy has seen a nine per cent increase in properties for sale with the group...

The entrepreneur behind a free-to-list property portal claiming support from 17 estate agencies has defended the description of them as ‘partners’ -...

A magazine which earlier this year claimed that two big corporates pressured customers to use their preferred mortgage brokers has now...

A PropTech startup which claims to revolutionise the speed at which property transactions can be processed has officially launched this week. When...

LSL Property Services has issued a warning that market conditions are softer than expected so far in 2018 and that transaction...

The UK’s real estate sector, embracing estate agencies as well as other aspects of the property industry, has been facing “increased...

The announcement that MPs will set up a Select Committee to probe the scale of money laundering in the UK property...

Countrywide is not quite finished with online experimentation yet, for today sees the launch of an online mortgage service, backed by...

The magazine Mortgage Strategy says Countrywide is investigating reports that one of its estate agent branches pressured buyers to use in-house...

LSL Property Services - parent company to 12 brands including Your Move, Reeds Rains and London’s Marsh & Parsons - has...

A mergers and acquisitions specialist says traditional agencies have been pushed into becoming more innovative by the rise of portals and...

A EweMove branch operating from a franchisee’s home in Staffordshire has taken over the running of a bricks and mortar agency. EweMove’s...

Leaders is expanding the mortgage side of its business with a raft of new products and services, as well as introducing...

The UK property sector has been a hotbed for financial crime in recent years, with many criminals seeing it as an...

The government has launched a surprise consultation on the creation of a new redress system for customers of agents and others...

The other day I met with two agents who have 30 years of property sales experience between them, and yet also...

Why I won’t buy Purplebricks shares and why if I had any, I’d sell fast… In its latest adverts, Purplebricks attempts to...

Spicerhaart, which describes itself as the UK’s largest independent estate agency group, has been on the acquisition trail again, showing its...

LSL Property Services is beefing up the mortgage arm of its activities.  It has acquired the mortgage adviser network Personal Touch in...

Countrywide’s new management has taken immediate steps to try to stem the loss of market share by the troubled agency group,...

Shares in troubled agency group Countrywide have fallen to their lowest-ever level of 106.40p in trading this morning. Yesterday shares fell a...

A trading statement from Countrywide this morning continues the decline shown by the agency group in recent years. It says total income...

The Motley Fool, the financial services company that provides investor advice, has published an article raising doubts about Purplebricks’ long-term profitability. Investment writer...

The former managing director of Countrywide’s estate agency division has joined the board of a PropTech firm wanting to introduce facial...

The UK’s largest property franchise group, Belvoir, says it is reaping rewards from its acquisition of Brook Financial Services and its...

LSL Property Services - which includes Your Move, Reeds Rains and other high street estate agencies - batted away any housing...

Belvoir has revealed that it has won the backing of a minority shareholder in The Property Franchise Group to resume merger...

The spread and sophistication of financial crime in the UK in recent years has been unprecedented.  Figures from UK Finance show that...

The UK estate agency and construction industries are not ready for the huge workload and responsibilities involved in the General Data...

ZPG says it has reached the milestone of delivering over £1m in referrals to its agents via its new MoveIt tool.  This provides agents with the...

ZPG - which already owns and operates Zoopla, PrimeLocation, Hometrack and the price comparison website uSwitch - has acquired the financial...

Estate Agent Today understands that Spicerhaart is in the final stages of talks to acquire major regional independent firm butters john...

Facebook appears to be interested in entering the sales and lettings world with its first advertising product geared solely towards industry professionals. The...

LSL Property Services - owners of Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons amongst estate agency brands - has enjoyed...

Countrywide has revealed a massive plunge in its profits for the first six months of 2017.   Pre-tax profit for the six months...

LSL Property Services does not report its figures for the first half of 2017 until August 1, but even so it...

A new report, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for the financial services group Legal & General, claims...

An internet monitoring service operated by international financial services giant Morgan Stanley says OnTheMarket is continuing to lose both its share...

One of the biggest stories post-Brexit is how the housing market has proven to be more resilient than anyone could have...

New research by business information firm Bloomberg suggests many thousands of London’s financial services jobs are under threat thanks to Brexit...

In recent years the mortgage industry has gone through some testing times. Recession and regulation have led to more stringent lending...

Property Franchise Group - formerly known as Martin & Co - has announced that 12 EweMove franchises have been sold in...

Peter Robinson, CEO of AIPP – Association of International Property Professionals – shines a light onto the international property market. Some UK...

Recent stats from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that last year 360,000 people moved homes, meaning the number has stayed...

Another senior Countrywide figure is leaving the organisation to join an independent agency - itself set up by a former Countrywide...

Estate Agent Today understands that Vince Corley, a senior director at Countrywide, is leaving the company. He is one of the longest-standing...

What does it say on your business card? Christopher Merriman, Land and Planning Director at Intro Crowd Who are Intro Crowd? Intro...

Countrywide’s long-term share price decline and turbulent branch closure programme have not prevented a relatively positive endorsement of the group’s strategy and...

The rental market has had to face a raft of changes over the past year, including the introduction of the 3% stamp...

A post-Christmas treat this week, as I carry out a Q & A with one of the leading figures in property,...

The Financial Conduct Authority is consulting on new guidance to lenders on how to measure and treat the repayment of arrears...

Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has announced the launch of a new feature on its website which will help estate agents to...

This week, tech startup Habito claims to have launched the world's first artificially intelligent 'digital mortgage adviser'.  The robo-adviser takes into account...

The key lies in improving your customer experience through technology For Agents, the tremendous growth in online estate agents highlights a strong...

The number of 95 per cent loan to value mortgages available for first time buyers has dwindled 16 per cent in...

As promised, this week’s Natter is dedicated to a question and answer session with Peter Brodnicki, the man who has been...

A leading London buying agency is warning that some areas of prime central London could face a downturn following the Brexit...

One estate agency leader - you’d all recognise his name - described the victory of the Leave camp in the referendum...

As we have just passed the 6 month half way point of 2016 we thought it would be a good idea...

Countrywide's retail chief says the group's new hybrid joint online and traditional project has involved training agents to change the way...

Curchods, the privately-owned, 21-branch Surrey agency which also trades as Burns and Webber has appointed a new group managing director. Michael Ansell...

Estate Agent Today can reveal that Bob Scarff, the head of Countrywide’s estate agency business until last May, has become a...

Having urged agents to think about the full marketing mix and not just price, we must look at our business relationships...

Keller Williams UK has appointed an agent with financial services experience to focus on recruiting more agents for the firm’s London...

The Property Franchise Group - including the brands Martin & Co, Whitegates, CJ Hole, Parkers and Ellis & Co - has...

Countrywide has taken the highly-unusual step of announcing that it will reveal key performance indicators every six months, come rain or...

Financial analysts at City consultancy Jefferies - which helped Countrywide float on the stock market - say 2016 is a key...

The chief executive of Countrywide says there’s “no change of course” after a 37 per cent slump in operating profits were...

Countrywide has given what it admits is a “mixed performance” in 2015 with a major reduction in operating profits, although it...

Coldwell Banker Real Estate, the US-based international agency expected to launch in the UK over the winter, has signed up with...

The Resort Group, the developer of the all-suite Llana Beach Hotel and Spa, which is due to open in 2016, has...

On Wednesday 21st October future and reality will collide. Back to the Future’s Marty McFly will arrive in the DeLorean to...

The rising phenomenon of agent-rating and review websites is a topic that seems to have caused considerable division and controversy among...

In case we didn’t learn the lesson last time around, we appear to be on the brink of a refresher course...

Q: What does it say on your business card?   The support network for quality agents Q: Who is Agent Tracker?   Agent Tracker...

A number of UK estate agents have announced further expansion and investment. Lincolnshire agency Pygott and Crone, winner of Sunday Times Estate...

This publication recently reported on Russell Quirk's latest attempt to upset the establishment, this time by attacking the hallowed ground of...

The head of a company making virtual walkthroughs for estate agents says the industry wrongly sees technology as a disruptive threat,...

Countrywide, the agency group that handles one in 10 transactions in Britain, has told the City that its income remains “resilient...