Archive

Simon Gerrard, a past president of the National Association of Estate Agents, has called on the government to switch the burden...

Rightmove’s monthly price index says the average asking price of homes coming to the market has fallen 1.2 per cent in...

How has the world of estate agency changed in the last few decades? That’s the question this week’s Natter is going...

Online review organisation Trustpilot has issued an open letter regarding its Purplebricks reviews. In it, the review company - which is often...

One of the world’s leading property technology experts, who at one time was head of strategy at a property portal, says investing...

Government figures suggest house prices are still rising by 5.1 per cent a year, with the average property value in the...

An online platform that allows the public to compare the services and fees of traditional estate agents in their areas has...

The Daily Telegraph claims that what it calls “dodgy practices” are leaving customers “thousands of pounds out of pocket.” The article quotes...

Hunters’ figures for the six months to the end of June show small rises in income and turnover but a substantial...

easyProperty has unveiled details of its relaunch, declaring itself to be the UK’s second largest hybrid estate agency - second only...

With party conference season around the corner and the next Budget just a couple of months away, more industry players are...

Arun Estates reports that it has netted an additional £350,000 in fees thanks to a scheme designed to woo vendors using online...

An estate agent who is campaigning for boards to be banned in his local area says they should be 'confined to...

Stock levels for estate agents at the height of summer were their lowest for at least 15 years according to the...

Property consultancy Hometrack says London’s 12 month market slowdown has bottomed out with the annual growth rate rising to 2.8 per...

Research in the United States shows that traditional full-service estate agencies achieve better sale prices than the biggest alternative in that...

The number of existing home owners moving house fell two per cent in the first six months of 2017 compared with...

One of the founding figures behind OnTheMarket, which currently bans listings from online agencies, now says bricks and mortar agencies that...

Purplebricks’ share price has now recovered all of the value it lost after being criticised on two BBC consumer programmes and...

Marsh & Parsons will be opening a new office in Islington on September 4 - defying many analysts who say the...

The Guild of Professional Estate Agents and Fine & Country are offering agent members the option to have in-person reviews and...

Purplebricks’ share price this afternoon dropped to a recent low of 406.50p before recovering to close down about five per cernt...

  You’ll see a lot of 10th anniversary stories in the property industry and consumer media in the coming days: early August...

Purplebricks’ well-publicised attempt to break into the Australian market with a similar model to the one being used here has come...

Speculation is growing over whether figures to be released by Countrywide on Thursday may prompt another fall in the troubled company’s...

With several agent partner programmes available across the country, estate agents can often increase business by offering sales by auction, with...

A third of ‘quick sale’ companies - those that buy homes in bulk at discounted prices - say the rise of...

The buying agency Black Brick says 38 per cent of its transactions the first half of the year were off market...

The housing market is approaching something of a standstill as the summer holiday season begins according to a downbeat report from...

Being a leading world-class city comes at a price – they are the most expensive for occupiers and the most lucrative...

A traditional estate agency has launched a new online package to give vendors the opportunity “to save thousands.” FranKeys in Lincoln has...

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint over a Purplebricks website statement featuring testimonials from clients; the complaint was made...

Supporting the adoption of technology does not mean we have to stop protecting the core values of the property industry. In...

One of the country’s leading buying agents says over six million people are living in the wrong property because they are...

The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine & Country have launched a new referral system app which allows its members to...

The chief executive of Purplebricks, often criticised by detractors for failing to reveal completion rates as opposed to listings, says his...

Another senior industry analyst says the time is fast approaching for Rightmove to either shift its focus to take account of...

Few things provoke argument within the industry more than the online v traditional agency debate - and within that debate, nothing...

A new PropTech venture aims to do what the ill-fated Veyo system failed to achieve -  creating an online platform bringing...

The National Association of Estate Agents says the General Election led to a drop in the number of registered house hunters...

The new anti-money laundering regulations introduced this week will delay the routine buying and selling of homes, a lawyer warns -...

Over 500 members of the Guild of Property Professionals have requested an easyProperty licence following the merger between the two organisations.   The...

A gathering of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has called on the industry to unite and improve the buying and selling process...

The Property Ombudsman’s annual report reveals a significant increase in the number of formal complaints resolved by the scheme and a...

A consumer group says it is giving what it calls “the top 1,000 estate agents in England and Wales” badges to...

TV property expert and online agency owner Sarah Beeny says there will always be some sellers who prefer to use traditional...

The managing director of lettings at Foxtons says Brexit and domestic political uncertainty have become ‘the new norm’ in the London...

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

Online estate agency Settled has raised £1.2 million in funding to further develop its product. Settled describes itself as a 'powerful digital...

Just 27% of property valuations in May were requested by prospective home sellers, according to the latest data from Connells Survey...

A new online estate agency is offering vendors a sales package for just £24.99. MoveSelf, which is based in Manchester, allows vendors to...

The housing industry has responded with shock, joy, and jitters, after Theresa May’s snap general election went catastrophically wrong, leaving her...

Calls made to estate agents to book property valuations increased by 26% this spring, according to telephone answering service Moneypenny. Enquiries made...

Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward, forward let us range, Let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of...

As we approach Thursday's General Election, more property professionals have criticised stamp duty and called for the Government to make changes...

A distinctive boutique estate agency that describes itself as a hybrid between traditional and online operators, and which set up a...

Theresa May’s call for a snap general election on June 8 took many by surprise. But estate agents have been broadly...

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

A study described as the biggest of its type seeks to explain why vendors choose - or avoid - online agents. The...

A consumer group which has consistently promoted online agencies says they achieve closer to sellers’ original asking price than the national...

The number of house hunters registered per estate agency branch fell last month to 381 - well down on its figure...

The banning of letting fees levied on tenants has dominated the industry headlines in recent months but this election campaign suggests...

Since we last spoke, the ESTAS – the biggest and best property awards ceremony in the UK – has been and...

A conveyancing expert is calling for sellers to complete and return their property information questionnaire to their conveyancer before there have...

Baroness Diana Warwick (below right) has been appointed chair of The Property Ombudsman scheme’s independent council. A life peer for the past 18...

The best estate and letting agents in the UK were recognised at the prestigious ESTAS luncheon and ceremony, which was held...

News headlines talk more and more about a slowdown in the property market, a drop in house prices and the need...

Almost half the agents in London surveyed by LonRes say that 10 per cent or more of their vendor clients intend...

Home buyers borrowed £11.2 billion in March - down on the ‘stamp duty bonanza‘ period at the same time last year...

Viewber, the outsourced property viewing service and brainchild of high-profile former estate agent Ed Mead, says its network of 'Viewbers' now...

Think ‘fake agents’ are no threat to your business? Think again. The rise of online agents - dubbed by some as...

Is it the Brexit triggering of Article 50, the snap General Election or the cold weather we have had until recently?...

Auctions are a great way to sell property competitively, with a wide range of homes often selling under the hammer, and...

Trevor Abrahmsohn, one of London’s best known estate agents and a founder of OnTheMarket, says stamp duty should be split between...

Even some of the most successful professionals from other professions fail to grasp the most important point when it comes to...

The number of properties available to buy on agents’ books decreased to 39 last month - the lowest amount recorded for...

The snap General Election on June 8 adds to uncertainty but does not significantly worsen the market for prime properties in...

A firm is claiming to be allow high street agents to offer vendors an online sale services as well, without the...

I wrote last month about how the Government, in introducing a 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes, had scored an...

Estate agents have been broadly supportive of the decision by Prime Minister Theresa May to push for a snap General Election...

The industry has broadly welcomed the shock announcement of a June 8 General Election as a chance to end long term...

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

Purplebricks’ advertising is very negative and critical of the competition. They talk about 'commisery', trying to make potential sellers feel ripped...

In this Natter we have an exclusive interview with David Cox, CEO of ARLA Propertymark and one of the best-known figures...

It’s easy to be dismissive of the value of local newspapers for advertising residential property but things are never as straightforward...

Purplebricks has stepped up its attack on what it calls “Britain's antiquated method of buying and selling homes” by describing it as...

More than one in three house sales across England and Wales fell through before completion in the first quarter of 2017,...

Countrywide’s share price, which just over three years ago was riding high at just above 685p, has hit a new low...

The Advertising Standards Authority has given the green light to an circular which provoked complaints suggesting it deliberately did not appear...

A firm that offers online, hybrid and traditional estate and lettings agency services says the digital side of its business is...

A year ago, we were days away from the introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes – a...

Hunters has boosted its office network over the 200 mark through the acquisition of Besley Hill, one of the longest established...

Nested, the chain-breaking estate agency that offers vendors a guaranteed sale of their property within 90 days, has secured a new...

A survey of over 2,000 sellers who used online agency eMoov reveals that review websites were the overwhelmingly largest driver of...

The average asking price rise for homes coming to the market in the last month has been a chunky 1.3 per...

Earlier this week it was Dads4Daughters Day – a campaign that strives to promote gender equality in the workplace.  I have three...

Estate agency is a tough business, no doubt about it. It’s probably tougher now to win a listing and tie up...

Some big news in the agency world last week won’t have escaped the attention of many in the industry. Last Thursday news...

Countrywide has revealed that in 2016 it spent over £8.1m on redundancies, some £7.4m on contract costs relating to closed premises,...

Only one in nine customers of estate agents regard face-to-face contact as the most important element of the process to determine...