Archive

Borrowers are currently rolling off relatively favourable two-year fixed-rate deals agreed at the start of 2022, but the pain from higher...

Mortgage lenders are expecting a quieter year for home loans in 2024. Forecasts from banking trade body UK Finance suggest lending for...

Estate agency has changed. No longer is it required to sit in a high street office working the old way. Provide a...

The term mixed-tenure development usually refers to residential developments where different residential tenures are provided on the same site. Typically, tenure was...

Success with your chosen CRM solution should not be a one-and-done package. Once you team up with a stellar CRM provider,...

CRMs can be superheroes for your business, but not all of them possess the necessary powers to save the day. As...

The long-awaited Renters Reform Bill was finally introduced in Parliament in May, but is it really good news for tenants? Several...

By adopting a top-notch Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, you're not only opening doors to acquiring new customers and nurturing existing...

In simple terms, as you are probably aware, ‘lenders’ are the organisations who loan you something, in this case money to...

The phrase ‘customer experience’ is bandied around a lot these days, so much so that it’s sometimes easy to think that...

Black mould associated with condensation is becoming an increasing problem for homes in the UK and following the tragic death of...

I’ve been on Twitter for a decade and have 23,500 followers - a gratifying number and of those a couple of...

One of the stranger stories emerging from the fallout of Kwasi Kwarteng’s sacking last Friday has been news that someone in...

The worst cost-of-living crisis in generations is everywhere we look and agents – and the property industry more widely – are...

A new lender is preparing to enter the mortgage market with long-dated fixed rate mortgages in a move seen by some...

Many people in recent years will have become familiar with challenger banks such as Monzo, Starling and Atom. Many will have...

Winkworth agents posted record sales income last year, attributed to the stamp duty holiday. The London-listed agent franchise group revealed in its...

Buyers are already tightening their belts and choosing not to borrow as much as they could, but instead calculate what they...

Until a few years ago, you would have been forgiven for not knowing who or what Coadjute was. But the company, founded...

Without doubt, 2021 was an exceptional year in the property market, with the stamp duty holiday and favourable market conditions helping...

While the Christmas season is usually heralded by an influx of terrible Christmas adverts, the launch of Starbucks’ gingerbread lattes, Adam...

Agent wages have been in the news this week, with boastful claims from a number of self-employed businesses about the sums...

Forget en-suites and garden rooms, could you boost viewings with the postcode of a property? Research by comparison website Money.co.uk has identified...

Some sellers are suffering cash flow issues as a result of glitches in the Capital Gains Tax reporting system, according to...

If someone broke into your house and took a video of lots of personal information, like photos of family and pets,...

Just a week ago, I thought it was all over. Christmas and New Year had gone, as had the passionate calls...

There’s growing optimism that an extension to the stamp duty holiday - thought to be off the agenda just days ago...

Agents have been outlining how they have beefed up their measures to combat the risk of Coronavirus, especially during property viewings. “We...

Knight Frank is in talks with HM Revenue and Customs to return furlough money as a result of relatively strong trading, notwithstanding...

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

Lockdown measures are still in place for another two weeks, at least, with the possibility of them being extended beyond that....

The market could take five years to recover from the Coronavirus crisis after possible double-digit percentage price falls and fast-increasing repossessions.  That’s the...

Savills has withdrawn its planned dividend to shareholders but says it could declare an "enhanced" payout at an unspecified later date. Only...

It seems an eternity ago but the housing market in February - that’s only last month - was in rude health...

There has been scepticism across the industry as to the motives behind an unspecified number of lay-offs and permanent branch closures...

A surveyors’ firm has been wound up after courts declared that it had misled clients over the success of its core...

In the last few Natters I’ve focused on the slow death of local newspaper advertising, and how many agents are now...

Foxtons is warning that 2020 will be yet another difficult year for the agency despite the so-called Boris Bounce helping the...

Why should agencies leave voicemail in the last decade and make 2020 the year to invest in a more modern solution? Voicemail...

Barbers Estate & Letting Agents in Shropshire doing more than most on the industry to go green. It’s teamed up with TerraCycle,...

In a marketplace as competitive as the property industry, you may think that generating leads is the most important focus for...

New figures from the Equity Release Council suggest more growth in this sector, alarming those agents who see this as a...

The chief executive of online agency HouseSimple says “sellers need to be prepared and willing to lower their expectations” in the current...

A city’s housing market that suffered badly because of the collapse in North Sea oil prices is now likely to rebound...

“Baton down the hatches. Stockpile the food cupboard. Brexit is coming and it’s little more than six months away!” I jest, but there is...

An OnTheMarket sales rep - who now no longer works for the company - wrote a critical review of an independent estate...

Mike Day, one of the best known and most popular figures in the agency business, is celebrating 15 years as one...

It’s probably unwise to write too much about politics these days. The most fanciful predictions turn out to be less wild...

Welcome to 2018 and if your charitable activities are an indicator, it’s going to be a busy year with plenty happening...

Saudi Arabia has announced it’s to build a new mega-city, rising out of the desert sands in the kingdom’s north, adorning...

Stephanie Slater died last week, aged 50. Whilst she died from cancer (tragically, only 11 days after diagnosis), it’s the events...

As the mainstream mortgage market braces itself for yet another clampdown on buy-to-let lending, a growing number of property investors are...

The Council of Mortgage Lenders’s buy to let forecast for 2017 and 2018 has been revised down from previous expectations at...

Any good estate agent knows that they have to be available for customers when they need them. But many forget that...

A London investment broker says Purplebricks’ share price - currently around 300p - could rise another 50 per cent or more...

It seems prop-tech is exploding at a scary rate, and the latest brands are all trying to grab our attention by...

When we meet clients, we go out of our way to make a good impression. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t...

The rapid growth in popularity of buy-to-let in recent years, fuelled in part by the failings of the pensions industry, has...

Annoying isn’t it. You take on a stunning property, agree a compelling asking price and your Vendor is desperate to get the...

A new report from the NatWest Bank nips in the bud any speculation that rising inflation may end the current cheap...

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

Next year is likely to be a challenging time for letting agents, following a raft of changes introduced by the government...

The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has confirmed that tighter regulations will apply to lenders providing mortgages for buy to...

Countrywide says there will “almost certainly” be no more acquisitions of agencies or other firms for the group over the rest...

While buy-to-let lenders brace themselves for further interventions as part of proposals currently being drawn up by the Prudential Regulation Authority...

A few years ago one of our property receptionists took a call from a vendor whose husband had passed away.  The client,...

When a potential buyer comes into the office and says they want to view a property on your books, the natural...

We’re all talking about second home stamp duty, changes to tax relief and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s suggestion that banks should...

New proposals to curtail mortgage borrowing in the buy to let sector have been branded as “a classic case of slamming...

A key Bank of England body has revealed its proposals for tougher borrowing standards to prevent buy to let lending overheating the wider...

Let Mid West Displays get your window in shape! Never underestimate the power of high street presence. Image is everything, and what...

So how long does a visitor typically stay in an estate agency office? Well, if it’s the case of intruders, about 15...

Who are you? I’m the Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme. I previously worked for Legal & General PLC dealing...

The future estate agency model is going to be neither the traditional High Street office nor the online-only alternative - instead...

We’re all familiar with 'gazumping' – most us have been 'gazumped' or indeed been the perpetrators of this practice, for it...

Moving abroad is a dream for many Britons. There are thousands of us who sit in our offices, day after dreary...