Archive

In this week’s Natter, I carry out a Q&A with Lisa Knight, who has taken the impressive journey from barmaid to...

The UK’s largest property auctioneer says that there is now clear evidence of the impact the pandemic has had on the...

As a character from a fairly well-known TV show once said, winter is coming and we’re all contemplating where 2021 has...

In this thought leadership article, Videosign CEO Steven Tallant looks at electronic signatures and conveyancing and whether the time is nigh for the...

The Crown Prosecution Service has joined in the criticism of unemployed estate agent Lewis Hughes, who last week admitted a count...

Agents have been told in new government guidance that the liftings of some Covid restraints in wider society “does not mark...

Regional hybrid agency Hortons says its repaid its £50,000 bounce back loan at the earliest opportunity - because the industry has...

It may be ‘Freedom Day’ but it looks certain that many estate agents will still wear masks in offices today and...

New guidance has been issued to agents as the government confirms that most remaining Coronavirus restrictions are to be lifted from...

Agents are to be told this week that employees can drop face masks, social distancing and other workplace measures put in...

In the world of football – very topical at the moment, as we all enjoy the Euros – there is an...

It’s now over a year since the property market officially reopened after an unprecedented two-month shutdown at the height of the...

Propertymark has produced a new guide for estate agents in the wake of the latest step on the roadmap out of Covid...

Propertymark Qualifications is reporting a surge in exams being taken and booked as restrictions ease allowing test centres to reopen. Since they...

Local elections rarely set the pulse racing and this year’s poll on Thursday faces a similar problem. But this time, it’s a...

As an estate agent, you should of course be performing robust Know Your Customer (KYC) checks as part of your Anti-Money...

The last property event I attended in person – and I think the last physical property event held all told –...

Data from agency Knight Frank suggests the number of UK exchanges last month was the highest in 10 years - well above...

There’s been a drop of no less than 16,000 in the number of physical viewings over the past year thanks to just...

The Chancellor’s recent announcement that the stamp duty holiday would be extended for another three months was undoubtedly great news for...

Following the fluctuation of the property market during the UK’s first national lockdown, the industry was given a lifeline by the...

The Prime Minister this afternoon stated that lockdown will remain in effect until early March at the earliest. He told the House...

Zoopla's latest figures suggest 70,000 transactions are likely to miss the stamp duty holiday deadline of March 31.  And the portal says: “The...

Agents are sharply split over how they should operate during the current phase of the Coronavirus crisis.  In a poll of almost...

Agents and the housing market in England are still in business even during the third national lockdown which begins on Wednesday and...

The Westminster government has published extensive guidance on the operation of the new Tier 4 Coronavirus restrictions in England. This includes a...

Pressure is building on the government to agree a tapered end to the stamp duty holiday, even if a full-blown extension now...

The housing market is to stay open across the UK, including in the new Tier 4 areas of England. An announcement from Housing Secretary...

Described on this site as a ‘powerful disruptor’ in March 2020, few would deny that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on...

Here at Giraffe360, the PropTech startup, we have raised a £3.5 million funding round to further accelerate our product development and...

Propertymark is in touch with the government to see how the new Tier structure being introduced on December 3 will affect...

Agents should know in the next 36 hours how new Coronavirus restrictions will affect how they work. The Prime Minister is announcing...

As we embark on another nationwide lockdown, the team at SDL Auctions are keen to help agents ride the storm, beat...

While England’s national lockdown exempts the housing market and allows agents to operate normally, it’s not been the same in Wales...

An agency in London which was stung by fierce criticism in the spring lockdown has announced its policy for branch activity...

The housing market is to remain open in the four week lockdown in England. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government...

2020 has been a testing year right from the start. With Storms Ciara and Dennis causing £184m+ worth of damage to...

The property market has bounced back with all of the expected resilience and flexibility that is its hallmark since it reopened...

2020 has definitely been a year of change. With little warning, the pandemic disrupted the day-to-day operations of almost every industry...

The only certainty at the moment is ongoing uncertainty. It’s something we’ve got used to in 2020, but it’s still not...

It’s about this time of year, pandemic or not, that agents may be asked one particularly awkward question by a vendor...

The latest government rules combined with the Prime Minister’s recent address to the nation is clear – tougher measures are required...

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has encouraged people to complain if they are unhappy about working conditions and thousands of complaints...

With the high street open again, and the Chancellor’s temporary stamp duty holiday helping to stimulate the market, estate and letting...

When it comes to the future of the property market in the wake of Covid-19, there are two main schools of...

In the week the Nationwide recorded the UK’s highest ever average house price, high-end agency Savills has forecast that prime markets...

Record house prices recorded this week by the Nationwide index are set to go higher still according to a leading agent. Nationwide...

Since June 1, under The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, landlords in England have been...

Agents are being advised to operate an appointments-only system if they have offices with only one person on duty during the...

The last few months have been tough for the property sector, and the pressure will continue as estate agents across the...

HM Land Registry customers - including agents and conveyancers - can now manage all of their applications and correspondence including notices,...

The Nationwide says annual house price growth has recovered to 1.5 per cent. Its July house price index says the fall in...

Hello: if it’s Friday it’s charity day and this week we have a special announcement from the industry’s own charity, Agents...

What do General Electric, IBM, Microsoft, and WhatsApp have in common? Yes, they are American companies that boasted revenues of $50...

Can technology bring about the lasting change needed to the property industry? The industry has felt the effect of lockdown and...

New guidance on face coverings for agents working in branches, and for those dealing directly with visitors, was issued last evening. A statement...

Conferences, events and awards dinners are a hugely important part of the property calendar, bringing the great and the good of...

Hello and welcome to the end of the week and the prospect of a sunny weekend. We appreciate fund-raising is difficult with...

Wearing a face covering in shops and supermarkets is to be made mandatory in England.  Anyone failing to comply with the order...

A property law firm is calling on the government to backdate the stamp duty holiday to include those buyers who completed...

There’s no doubt that Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the UK’s property market, after hundreds of thousands of house...

There are high hopes that the new stamp duty holiday will make an already busy market even busier - but not...

Businesses across all sectors have struggled to adapt to the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. One group that have bucked...

The return of non-essential businesses to lockdown in Leicester as a result of a localised spike in Coronavirus cases is a...

Buyer registrations and sales enquiries are reportedly back to pre-Covid levels. Completions, however, are lagging behind. This is probably down to...

The Welsh housing market is back in business today - at least in part. Letting and estate agents can reopen their offices...

The property market is used to change, and I’m confident it will bounce back from any lockdown effects. Despite being acutely aware...

The devolved government in Wales - where the housing market is still officially closed - has urged agents to report rivals...

Hello and welcome to Agents Do Charity, our weekly opportunity to salute suppliers and agents fund-raising for good causes. We appreciate how...

The managing director of a Winkworth branch is threatening to report a senior member of a nearby Countrywide office to the...

A survey of estate agents conducted through trade publications has revealed that market uncertainty and the handling of transactions within government...

National property auctioneer Pugh & Co is launching an initiative to partner with estate agents across the UK. Via a new network...

An agent in the unusual position of operating across the England and Welsh border says many of his competitors appear to...

The Property Franchise Group - parent company of six agency brands including EweMove and Martin & Co - says all of...

Social distancing will be part of our daily routine moving forward for the foreseeable future and if you run an estate...

The Covid-19 crisis has forced the UK property industry to rethink the way it operates. With little warning, the pandemic disrupted the...

A mystery group, believed to consist of high-level former agents and suppliers, is asking the industry for its feedback on current...

New figures released by Foxtons this morning show a collapse in commission income to the agency during the Coronavirus period. Sales commissions...

** This Bank Holiday Monday both Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today look at how agencies have modified offices and protocols...

** This Bank Holiday Monday both Estate Agent Today and Letting Agent Today look at how agencies have modified offices and protocols...

It’s a Bank Holiday weekend and if you’re taking time off we hope you and your families enjoy a well-earned break. We’ll...

The industry should continue to prepare for large-scale reforms such as mandatory agency training, the licensing of agents and a new...

The Bank of Ireland UK is the latest mortgage lender to resume physical valuations of properties in England, subject of course...

For the coming Bank Holiday on Monday, we’d like to show images of how agency offices have adapted to cope with...

Countrywide has refuted claims that none of its branches have so far re-opened for business but has issued an explanation why...

The biggest awards for the agency sector - The ESTAS - will now be a virtual event on Friday July 3,...

As you know, having professional images of your properties is the best (only?) way to get people wanting to step through...

There’s been a very significant increase in the number of listings carrying virtual viewings, accelerating during the period of the Coronavirus crisis and...

The agency at the heart of a fierce row over staff safety in the lockdown says it's now insisting local managers...

Guidance issued by the government explicitly advises agents, buyers and sellers that more activity should be done online if possible. “The process...

It’s back to work today for England’s estate agents and the housing market - but it’s the start of a new...

The chief executive of NAEA Propertymark says he expects specific government guidance later this week for estate agents to return to...

There’s been a surge in buyers wanting to view properties - but agents must sit on their hands and wait for...

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

First details of the government’s programme to allow businesses to reopen have begun to emerge - with little comfort for estate...

Details being presented to Parliament today may include information on how agents can return to work in some sort of ‘new normal.’ A 50...

The government has temporarily suspended its official house price index as a result of the Coronavirus crisis. In a long and far-reaching announcement...

There has been much speculation about when agents will be allowed back to work, and what the new office working environment...

Rightmove says it’s to launch its biggest ever national marketing campaign in a bid to kick-start the market once lockdown eases. The...

There’s been a furious response to the agent who appears to have breached government rules by opening his branch to the...

A third of agencies say at least some of their staff will be working from home permanently when the Coronavirus pandemic...

An instant valuation service has launched a new tool aimed at helping agents prioritise leads through prospective vendors uploading photographs to...

An estate agent has reopened his High Street office to the public with social distancing and other safety measures in place. It’s...

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

Since my last column in April, one could argue that very little has changed for agents in terms of the market...

Housing minister Chris Pincher is drawing up guidelines which could allow agents to return to something like normal working in the near...

The coming week’s stories in the mainstream media - inevitably focused on Coronavirus - will be dominated by two things. Firstly there...

The Kremer Signs company has unveiled a package of products for agents to use in the new era of social distancing.  These...

If anyone told us six weeks ago that agents would still be doing such amazing work for their communities during lockdown...

The Mail Online is running a story on estate agents allegedly breaking the lockdown by conducting physical viewings in recent weeks...

The government of one part of the British Isles has produced guidelines for removal firms. Until now, house moving in an era...

Industry supplier epropservices has created a new virtual valuation platform to help the industry operate during the lockdown and social distancing...

A six-point guide is to be issued today to agents reopening offices when the government gives the go ahead, possibly in...

There’s going to be a 35 per cent drop in the number of new homes delivered this year because of the...

At the moment, it somehow seems like tempting fate to think too far into the future, especially in terms of the...

Estate agents in one small part of the British Isles are reopening their offices this weekend. Agents on the Channel Island of...

It may seem a long time since normal trading took place but many agencies are now finding they are picking up...

Hello - yes it’s Friday in case you lost track, and that means it’s Agents Do Charity day: and once again...

Aside from the obvious health crisis, the current pandemic is proving difficult for the business worldwide. However, despite the increasing contact...

A regional agency has thrown its weight behind an independent report which says estate and lettings agents could lead the economy...

Property and construction are amongst the worst hit sectors for businesses in so-called ‘critical distress’ according to figures taken before the worst...

Foxtons' Annual General Meeting next month is to be held virtually, meaning voting will be electronic. A feature of last year’s AGM...

Rightmove and Knight Frank are today both calling for a series of government incentives to kick-start the market after the Coronavirus...

If it’s really the case that estate agents’ offices could be in the category of High Street premises first allowed to...

Estate agents’ offices will be in the first category of High Street premises to reopen when the lockdown finally ends, newspapers claim this...

The John Bray agency based at Rock in Cornwall typically deals with some of the most expensive real estate in the...

We are still living in highly extraordinary times, perhaps evidenced best by the fact that the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was...

New temporary rules have thrown a lifeline to troubled agencies like Countrywide and Purplebricks which may need to raise additional funds...

A leading estate agency says it has observed that some banks previously opposed to accepting remote and desktop valuations have started...

Floorplan and photography supplier FocalAgent is making a free offer to every agent in the UK during the virus crisis -...

One of the first analyses of portal listings since the start of the Coronavirus crisis shows that new listings have plummeted...

One of Britain’s leading agents says online viewing and interest in videos for homes on sale continues to be relatively strong...

I won't be the first or last person to say that society and the property industry in which we operate is...

Based on our historical data over twenty years of nationwide operation and a survey conducted in partnership with YouGov, we estimate...

Purplebricks Local Property Experts are asking sellers who are not allowing agents into their homes during the virus crisis to draw...

One of the industry’s leading automated valuation services says it’s running at approaching 1,000 leads a day for agents even during...

Countrywide has strongly denied claims made to Estate Agent Today that some people have felt obliged to work at an admin...

New guidance has just been agreed by conveyancers on house moves during the Coronavirus crisis. The procedures - made pubic only last...

Where else to start? Since my last Natter two weeks ago, all our lives have changed more than we could ever...

Hello and welcome to the latest Conquering Corona - our guide for agents to get through these challenging times. Please let us...

New sales agreed have already plummeted by 15 per cent and over the next three months there’s going to be a...

The Law Society says there is still some possibility that those home movers scheduled to complete in the near future might...

*** Please see this story for the latest news on house moving, updated 12 noon on Tuesday March 24 *** The property...

A video has been launched this morning explaining how agents can get their sellers and landlords to use iPhones to make...

Good morning and welcome to the industry’s daily update on how we cope with the challenge of social distancing and self-isolation...