Archive

OnTheMarket says almost 500 branches have signed up in recent months, entitling their business owners to ‘welcome shares’. Of those branches signing...

There appears to have been a small shareholder rebellion at Countrywide’s annual general meeting over the company’s remuneration of senior management. No...

One of the key members of the Purplebricks board has stood down after two years. Andreas Wiele joined the Purplebricks board in...

One of the highest profile and most widely respected figures in the British property industry has died suddenly. He was 72. Tony...

One of the leading ‘new breed’ of hybrids relying on self-employed agents is opening a share offer to investors in a...

A new thought-provoking five-part video series is launching to the industry today. ‘Simon says…’ is being hosted by Property Tribes with...

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

There's widespread expectation that Foxtons’ senior management will face sharp criticism at the company’s Annual General Meeting today. The hottest issue at...

OnTheMarket’s share price dropped again yesterday, ending down 2.4 per cent. This was despite the portal announcing a share giveaway to encourage new agents...

OnTheMarket says it has another 32 million shares to give away to agents signing full fee contracts with the challenger portal...

The Say No To Rightmove campaign, which expects to have some 3,000 offices signed up by the end of the month,...

In a video interview for Estate Agent Today, property professional Chris Buckler speaks to Christopher May, director of free-to-list portal Residential...

You wouldn’t expect anything other than very upscale home offices from an esteemed agency with a wonderful history - and that’s...

The human cost of the Coronavirus crisis is growing and devastating, but behind that businesses are being badly hurt too. Many consider...

Countrywide shares fell by just over 30 per cent yesterday as the stock market blood-letting continued for property stocks. The value fell 30.86...

Purplebricks faces an imminent takeover bid following the collapse of its share price, predicts a leading industry analyst. Andrew Stanton has already...

OnTheMarket is not responding to requests to reveal details of any pay-off for its chief executive Ian Springett, who was sacked...

The coronavirus outbreak has highlighted once again how fragile and interconnected our societies have become. We don’t know yet how dangerous Covid-19...

The share price of challenger portal OnTheMarket has fallen to its equal lowest-ever level after a drop of over five per cent...

Estate agency Chestertons has named the new chief operating officer for the roll out of its UK and Europe franchising operation. Some...

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

OnTheMarket will tomorrow issue over 400,000 shares to agents who have signed new long-term listing agreements with the portal. No details have...

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

Rightmove has announced the start of a two-month share repurchase programme - a way of buying its own stock back from...

Countrywide’s share price yesterday went from little over 7p to 360p in one fell swoop. Is it the end of uncertainty about...

Countrywide's senior management has won overwhelming backing from shareholders for its strategy of selling its commercial arm and consoliating its shares. Today's...

Countrywide's senior management has won overwhelming backing from shareholders for its strategy of selling its commercial arm and consoliating its shares.         Earlier...

OnTheMarket has this morning announced it has raised £3.4m through a placing of shares. It has placed 4,857,143 new ordinary shares at a...

An estate agent in London claims he did £53m of property deals within hours of the Conservative victory in the General...

A high-profile investment advice service says as OnTheMarket nears two years listed on the stock market it “has yet to deliver...

A new portal claims it will do what OnTheMarket failed to do, and offer an agent-led operation charging every agency branch...

Here at sales progression and communication tool mio, we recently caught up with Sarah Edmundson, co-director of The AllStars Group, the...

28th NOVEMBER 2019: Christopher Watkin’s recent thought-provoking interview with Dan Marsden sheds light on the property industry today and offers an...

Ashleigh Thwaites, Branch Manager at Emersons Green, Taylors shares how mio has transformed her approach to sales progression by making it...

OnTheMarket will on Wednesday of this week issue over a million shares to agents who have signed new long-term listing agreements...

One month on from introducing sales progression and communication tool, mio, to her branch in Chippenham (Wiltshire), Michelle Hallas, Residential Sales...

The chief executive of Purplebricks UK says the struggling hybrid agency is definitely not for sale, despite recent sales of stakes...

Controversy and Purplebricks have gone hand in hand since the agency was first launched in 2012, through its float on the...

OnTheMarket is delivering agents “a higher marketing yield than Rightmove” according to an investment consultancy which works with OTM. Investors appear to...

Case study: Connells reaping the time-saving benefits of new sales and communication tool Since adopting mio in September 2018, Josh Lally, Senior...

Purplebricks is reported to be facing a shareholder revolt this coming week at its annual general meeting because of bonuses paid...

Stamp duty won’t take centre stage at the Conservative Party conference - that’ll be Brexit, quelle surprise. But if the government...

Robert Anderson, Branch Manager at William H Brown in Leicester shares how sales progression and communication tool, mio, has created a...

All eyes will be on Purplebricks today to see if there is further development in what some believe is a long-term...

Troubled star fund manager Neil Woodford has sold another slice of his share in Purplebricks, prompting further speculation about the future...

Purplebricks’ recent strong share price rise is not a good sign for the agency but an indication that it may be...

Fox and Sons goes digital and improves their sales progression with mio Lucy Luxton, Branch Manager at Fox and Sons, Tiverton (Devon)...

The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) keeps deposit money safe for letting agents, landlords and renters during the course a tenancy....

Since first meeting the mio team at The Negotiator Awards back in November 2018 – and being presented with no less...

Hello and welcome to the final PJT before September - yes that means summer is almost over.  Yet even during the holiday season...

OnTheMarket has applied to the London Stock Exchange for the release of over a million new shares to agents who have...

A trade association of agents selling properties overseas has launched a new feature which it claims will give buyers greater security...

Shareholders at today’s annual general meeting of OnTheMarket will hear the latest conversion figures showing how many agents on free or...

Now could be the time to buy shares in Purplebricks and Foxtons if one stock market pundit turns out to be...

In the last ten years Google's revenue, largely from pay per click ads (Adwords), has grown by 527% (Source: Statista). In...

An analyst on shares website Motley Fool says Purplebricks is not only in surprisingly strong financial health, but is actually outperforming...

Figures released from OnTheMarket this morning suggest that its conversion programme for agents shifting from free deals to paid membership is...

OnTheMarket claims monthly visits to its website hit a record 25.4m in May - but the portal’s latest update gives no...

It's been another busy 24 hours for publicly-quoted estate agencies. Swiss investment bank UBS has increased its stake in the troubled London...

Beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford, one of the first champions of Purplebricks, has reduced his stake in the troubled agency for...

Beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford, one of the early champions of Purplebricks, has slashed his stake in the company from 28.9...

Purplebricks has announced that it is to give a trading update and the result of its review of its US activities on...

Two of Britain’s largest and best known estate agencies have endured a day of turmoil at the hands of investors -...

Talks are reported to have been held between Purplebricks leading shareholder, Neil Woodford, and the German publishing group Axel Springer about...

Purplebricks share price has risen over 10 per cent - at least temporarily - on news of a major expansion of...

Purplebricks’ most influential investor says there is “opportunity aplenty” for the company but says it would back the closure of the US...

Countrywide’s shares took another battering yesterday as they plummeted below the psychologically-painful 5p mark - reflecting a 95 per cent loss of...

Purplebricks’ share price yesterday plunged to 90.5p at one point - well below the 100p level at which the company originally...

Following yesterday's surprise news that founder Michael Bruce is leaving the business and its Australian operation is closing down, Purplebricks encountered...

Trading in OnTheMarket’s shares was subject to two so-called Price Monitoring Extensions - temporary freezing of transactions because of erratic movements. The...

Another bank has slashed its forecast for Purplebricks, citing concerns over its the long-term viability of its international activities in particular. As...

Countrywide has named a senior businesswoman as chair of its controversial remuneration committee which was at the centre of a row...

OnTheMarket has applied to the London Stock Exchange for the release of over 528,000 new shares to agents who have signed...

For the second day in a row Countrywide was subject to two so-called Price Monitoring Extensions - temporary freezing of trading...

The London Stock Exchange twice froze trading in Countrywide’s shares yesterday after volatile movements - and a new record low price. The...

OnTheMarket has applied to the London Stock Exchange for the release of shares to agents signing long term deals with the...

The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) keeps deposit money safe for letting agents, landlords and renters during the course a tenancy....

Purplebricks’ and Foxtons’ apparent success on Trustpilot have come under scrutiny in a Times newspaper analysis of the review platform. The Times’...

The topic of introducing rent controls in London crops up time and time again in our industry. But it’s been hitting...

An interesting debate has been sparked in PropTech this week. It started with an interview, published on YouTube, in which Kristjan Byfield...

No doubt we’ve all seen the recent Purplebricks news - shares have, according to the BBC, ‘plunged after it slashed its...

New figures released this morning from OnTheMarket claim its listing inventory bis now over 80 per cent of the size of...

Shares in OnTheMarket hit another new low of 75.7p yesterday, dropping over nine per cent on the day and falling well...

Purplebricks has revealed that it’s given its new global chief operating officer 700,000 shares - valued at around £165p each that...

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

Rightmove has launched a share buy-back programme to run until late next month, February. Companies buy back their own shares to keep up...

The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) keeps deposit money safe for letting agents, landlords and renters during the course a tenancy....

A top PropTech analyst says Purplebricks is as much an advertising firm as an estate agency but is nonetheless a huge success...

Has the bell finally tolled for online agencies? Emoov’s collapse and an investor revolt over crowdfunding have left a large question...

OnTheMarket had told its shareholders this morning that it now has over 12,000 branches listing and is offering share incentives to...

The head of the portal PropertyMutual has accused Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket of being “corporate dinosaurs” and has called on agents...

Countrywide, which was hit by a row over executive pay during the summer, is now on the look out for a...

Purplebricks says it has seen year-on-year revenue growth of about 20 per cent despite what its chairman calls “a challenging UK...

The last couple of weeks’ articles were penned very much for a specific agent readership, something I am trying to be...

Last week, I wrote about the speed of innovation in the Far East. This week I’d like to do the same...

One of Countrywide's major investors has significantly reduced its holding in the troubled estate agency group. Oaktree Capital yesterday lowered its stake...

Following the first day of trading its new shares yesterday, Countrywide's share price finished at 12.52, down almost 4%. The new shares were...

Countrywide may have enjoyed the overwhelming support of its major institutional shareholders for its controversial rescue plan, but the wider financial...

Countrywide’s embattled management leaders have been overwhelmingly backed by shareholders in their bid for additional funding. A General Meeting of shareholders was held...

Countrywide’s share price defied the expectations of some analysts and rose over six per cent yesterday with the company moving from...

In yet another statement to the London Stock Exchange and shareholders, Countrywide says its last-gasp £140m fund-raising is likely to be...

Countrywide appears to have backtracked on a move which could have seen its three most senior executives receive some £20m in...

Today sees the first of a series of important deadlines which will determine the success of otherwise of Countrywide’s controversial rescue...

Sky News is reporting that Countrywide faces a new crisis - this time over senior management remuneration, particularly for its executive...

Small print in the Countrywide rescue plan announced yesterday spells out in stark terms what could happen if the company’s bid...

Foxtons share price hit a new low yesterday, dropping to only 46p early in the afternoon: it eventually closed narrowly up...

The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require estate agents to risk assess their business relationships and apply an appropriate level of investigation...

The German publishing company Axel Springer has increased its stake in Purplebricks to 12.5 per cent - and says it may...

The stock market and at least one City analyst have shrugged their shoulders at the claim by Purplebricks that it is...

Potential first-time buyers in every area of the UK would have lower monthly outgoings if they bought a property rather than...

The famed fund manager Neil Woodford has increased his stake in hybrid agency Purplebricks, which last week announced an expansion of...

It’s been revealed that Countrywide has offered its staff a ‘share save’ scheme which allows them to purchase shares in the...

Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has confirmed that it expects its sale to Silver Lake to complete in Q3 2018. As part of...

ZPG shares have rocketed up in value by 30 per cent this morning on the back of a £2.2 billion bid...

Purplebricks’ finance chief Matthew Farrow is reported to have left the company to join IT and cloud communications company Timico. Just over...

Purplebricks has issued a statement saying that 99.98 per cent of its shareholders have backed the new investment to expand its...

Has Countrywide finally convinced its investors that it is on the road to recovery? Back on March 8 the Countrywide share price...

As always seems to be the case with Purplebricks, the hybrid agency has had a good week...and a bad one. Undeniably impressive...

As noted in Estate Agent Today’s news pages, OnTheMarket’s (OTM) recent dire share performance (at time of writing the price is...

Purplebricks has announced what it describes as “a strategic investment from Axel Springer, Europe’s leading digital publisher” - but this comes...

Countrywide’s 132-page annual report, released today, has given details of the management and restructuring costs incurred by the company during its...

Market analysts at Swiss bank UBS are warning that Purplebricks’ meteoric growth in the UK may be slowing. The bank has cut...

The UK chief executive of Purplebricks, Lee Wainwright, has been granted an option to buy 100,000 shares in the firm. The purchase would...

OnTheMarket’s share price starts the week at almost exactly the same level as it was floated after a significant bounce-back on...

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

OnTheMarket has finally completed its stock market float, with less capital raised, at a lower than planned valuation and, as I write,...

All eyes are on Agents’ Mutual’s first day of trading on the London stock exchange - just over five years after...

Whatever else you say about OnTheMarket, you can’t say it’s not consistent, consistent in treating its core membership shabbily.  We already know...

Figures presented to the London Stock Exchange by Agents’ Mutual appear to show that it has 200 fewer branches now than...

Analysts have given a frosty reception to the announcement by Agents’ Mutual that it is going to float shares priced at...

Agents’ Mutual has released more details of its float on the stock market, which begins on February 9 with a placing priced...

The story of this week - the ousting of Countrywide chief executive Alison Platt - prompts two key questions. Firstly, who takes...

If Countrywide thought its fortunes would immediately improve following the departure of chief executive Alison Platt, it has to think again...

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

Yesterday morning OnTheMarket confirmed its IPO plans but with no firm date. The question remains on whether the float will be...

OnTheMarket has announced some details of its IPO and the launch of its stock market flotation - but it has given nothing...

British politics is extraordinarily volatile right now and the ongoing battle between austerity and anti-austerity, Leave and Remain, and Conservative and...

Purplebricks’ share price value yesterday dropped below the 300p, over 40 per cent less than its high point over the recent...

Fine & Country is to offer auction sales options to vendors in its 200 offices from next year. “The modern method of...

Agents’ Mutual is officially making no comment on the timetable for the company flotation but speculation within the industry is mounting...

It appears that OnTheMarket member agents can, if they wish, opt out of the five year ‘lock in’ share agreement and...

Investec Asset Management has bought a 5.6 per cent share in Countrywide, having had no previous involvement in the troubled estate...

Countrywide’s share price hit another new low yesterday of around 115.5p - a fall of just over four per cent on...

It now appears that OnTheMarket agents do not require to sign up to the portal for five years in order to...

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

The growing anger of some OnTheMarket member agents about the portal’s parent company proposal to float on the London Stock Exchange...

Before we go any further, assuming you are an Agents’ Mutual member, let me ask you a question. If you had...

OnTheMarket is declining to comment after suggestions were floated that some debts by its member agents could be deferred, or in some...

The roadshow of presentations of Agents’ Mutual’s plans to float on the stock market have just passed the half-way mark. Remaining sessions...

The Sunday Times made uncomfortable reading for Purplebricks yesterday as the newspaper raised more questions about the number of homes the...

The stock exchange seems to be on everyone’s lips at the moment. There’s Agents’ Mutual seeking to float on the Alternative Investment...

There’s a distinct sense of déjà vu over the debacle of OnTheMarket. I avoided joining two years ago because I couldn’t see...

No one can say Agents’ Mutual has failed to provoke debate within the industry. The project was the centre of fierce argument...

After my article last week predicting that Agents’ Mutual would likely seek to raise external capital, including possibly on the public markets,...

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

There has been a sceptical reception from City analysts to Agents’ Mutual’s decision to restructure and float on the stock market...

Trustpilot, the review service quoted frequently by Purplebricks as evidence of its apparent popularity, is declining to comment on the adverse...

I hate to be the guy to say ‘I told you so’…but I told you so! It seems that my predictions...

Agents’ Mutual has confirmed that it proposes to form a new company, OnTheMarket plc, to list on the AIM market of...

The share price of beleaguered hybrid agency Purplebricks has recovered some of the ground it lost earlier in the week after...

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

The Competition and Markets Authority has released the full wording on its decision to give the go-ahead to ZPG’s acquisition of Expert...

  A hybrid agency called 99Home Ltd, which made its debut back in April, appears to have relaunched with what it calls...

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

There’s barely a week that goes by when you don’t read about an estate or letting agency business that’s been acquired...

First time buyers who were supposed to be helped by the high-profile Help To Buy ISA have in fact found it...

On behalf of The University of Oxford, Professor Andrew Baum has overseen the compiling of an academic study of the PropTech...

EweMove, the online brand owned by the Property Franchise Group, now has 108 franchisees - 97 are fully operational and 11...

The aftermath of Easter and shock announcement of a snap General Election have done little to stop the industry making plenty...

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

Figures lodged at Companies House by online agency easyProperty suggest parent company EProp Services will seek additional funding this year. A strategic...

Swiss bank UBS has downgraded Countrywide’s status to ‘sell’ in a move which has prompted the troubled estate agency’s share price...

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

Countrywide has successfully placed 21.6m shares to institutional investors at the competitive price of 175p per share - allowing it to...

LSL Property Services - which owns high street agency brands Your Move, Reeds Rains and Marsh & Parsons - is the...

Connells Group has announced strong figures for 2016 with the total number of properties sold rising five per cent and lettings...

An analysis of estate agents quoted on the London Stock Exchange suggests that almost all the traditional firms have suffered since...

Over the past two decades, investing in buy-to-let has been a relatively easy way to make money, which is why so...

Harry Hill - former chief executive of Countrywide and the founder of Rightmove, and one of the most respected figures in the...

Purplebricks has raised £50m through a share issue to fund expansion into the United States later this year. In an announcement to shareholders...

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

The remarkable bull run on the London Stock Exchange continues for hybrid estate agency Purplebricks, which floated shares at 100p just...

Zoopla has released details of the profit some of its agents have made from its 2014 offer to purchase shares at...

Purplebricks has issued its second statement to the City on successive trading days - and its share price has risen by...

The board of Purplebricks has issued a statement to the City saying it has no idea what lies behind the soaring...

The stock market appears to be continuing its love affair with Purplebricks, as the hybrid agency share price rose once again...

There’s been a bumper mailbag sent to press@estateagenttoday.co.uk this week to mark what must be the height of the fund-raising season...

What a mad, bonkers year it’s been. We’ve had, in no particular order: Trump, Brexit, Leicester winning the Premier League, a...

Share prices for both Foxtons and Countrywide took a significant tumble yesterday as news of the ban on letting agents’ fees...

Although Brexit, portal juggling and portal wars have stolen property industry headlines in recent months, there's been one story almost constantly...

LSL Property Services has sold its remaining stake in Zoopla Property Group according to a City report. LSL - which includes High...

Investment group Shore Capital says the future expansion of digital property advertising means Zoopla shares - despite recent growth - are...

It’s curious how gloom, gloom pre-Brexit Britain’s property market has gained a much brighter outlook now that the result of the...

An equity specialist has warned that shareholders may now choose this is the time to sell their stakes in Purplebricks because...

The huge rush to acquire buy-to-let property in the first quarter of the year ahead of the stamp duty change deadline...

The Conveyancing Association says it is continuing to campaign to reform the leasehold transaction process, despite the government saying there is...

Estate Agents may say they are different. They may even believe they are different. But, the perception of many vendors is that...

Another crowdfunding platform has launched, encouraging investors to buy a share in a property - in this case, a prime London...

  The chief marketing officer of Purplebricks, Joby Russell - who in the recent past has described the hybrid as “the UK’s...

There has been a gloomy response to the latest Knight Frank measure of house price sentiment - the first of its...

An equities analyst has suggested that some of the most extreme warnings of housing market chaos after a Brexit vote came...

Agency and other property shares that have been buffetted in the past two trading days have now stabilised - in most...

The Daily Mail is reporting that the finance chief at much-discussed hybrid agency Purplebricks has purchased shares that are now worth...

An investment consultancy has issued a note to investors, advising them not to buy shares in Purplebricks.  Jefferies – the firm which...

Dear Sales Doctor, About 90% of my valuations end in the vendor saying to me “your fees are too expensive” and with...

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

Purplebricks has appointed Grant Thornton as its ‘growth adviser’ as the hybrid agency continues to fly high on the London stock...

The respected investment advice website Motley Fool has poured cold water on the stock market fortunes of Purplebricks, despite a huge...

It’s all too easy to look sleazy in the eyes of a sceptical world, and there’s a danger right now that...

One of the leading financial advice websites in the country has said that Rightmove’s “significant market share” and “insanely high margins”...

When, during his budget speech, George Osborne announced Capital Gains Tax (CGT) was going down to 20%, I experienced a mix...

Property has long been a safe investment. Before the downturn in 2008, sellers were able to gain a healthy capital return.  Post-economic...

LSL, the UK’s second largest estate agency division, has received a glowing endorsement from two property market analysts. In a note issued...

Birthdays aren’t just something for family and friends to celebrate.   Businesses too can justifiably use these milestones to remember their roots and...

With a little over two months to go until changes to Stamp Duty are introduced that will impact purchasers of second...

The UK’s largest estate agency group has upgraded its profits forecast to the City - just over 10 weeks after issuing...

Online estate agent Purplebricks has now completed its pre-Christmas IPO with shares initially valued at £240m. It’s the latest news that...

The founder and co-owner of hybrid estate agency EweMove has written to the chief executive of the OnTheMarket portal, lavishly praising...

Star fund manager Neil Woodford - whose investment judgements have made him something of a celebrity in the world of high...

Foxtons has started a buy-back of shares from its investors - a way of rewarding shareholders after what has been a...

The Town and Country Planning Association has plunged itself into the debate over Britain’s housing, saying that younger people unable to...

Readers of Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today were given an exclusive opportunity to pose questions to Zoopla Property Group...

A sales director of a branch of Humberts has resigned after being found guilty of stealing £2,500 from a charity. Jane Hale...

Zoopla is back in business with its trading update to the City this morning revealing that it has a net growth...

At first sight the decision by the Bank of England not to raise base rate appears good news for the industry...

A crowdfunding website has been set up with the aim of raising money to assist first time buyers purchase their homes. It...

Shares in Foxtons start the week at 244 after staging a dramatic stock market recovery following a poor set of figures. The...

Some 87 per cent of Zoopla members who bought discounted shares in the firm last year have made additional purchases this summer...

Given that I wrote my last article on the day of the General Election but well before the result was known,...

Hunters, the franchise chain with over 150 branches and now established as the UK's sixth largest estate agent, could be valued...

Members of Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) who purchased discounted shares ahead of the firm’s Initial Public Offering last June will have...

Zoopla remains unbowed by its loss of 23 per cent of its UK agents and says it has new statistics proving...

The agency industry has been acting with delight over the likelihood that there will be a slim overall majority for the...

Investors’ Chronicle, the Financial Times group magazine for private investors, says Zoopla’s acquisition of price comparison site uSwitch is ‘a creative...

With pension reform, council licensing changes and a General Election on the horizon, many are anticipating a boom in the buy-to-let...