Archive

A newspaper claims that thousands of customers’ financial details held by Foxtons Group are being freely accessed on the so-called dark...

Estate agents have kept up the pressure on the Westminster government to consider some kind of tapered ending to the stamp...

A group that last year floated the concept of a one-off wealth tax - which would include taxing main homes as...

The government needs to step in to rescue two valuable property incentives before they expire at the end of March, a...

A new survey suggests online agents are favoured by only three per cent of sellers. The study involved a modest sample -...

The Nationwide has pulled no punches with Chancellor Rishi Sunak - it’s made it clear that if the stamp duty holiday...

The government is keeping everyone guessing about the stamp duty holiday but one comment by a senior minister suggests movement towards a...

Purplebricks has been rated as only the 10th best online agency in the country in a controversial new league table. The list...

Almost a year ago the government announced that estate and lettings agencies were to be included in the business rates relief...

Mortgage approvals decreased slightly in December but remain well above pre-Covid levels thanks to the continuing incentive of the stamp duty...

One of the country’s most popular tourist destinations may ban the sale of new builds to second home buyers. The council in Padstow -...

A property industry body representing developers wants the government to think again about making it easier for redundant High Street shops...

Labour and Conservative MPs have expressed a unanimous view on their desire to see an extension of the stamp duty holiday...

You can watch the Parliamentary debate on a possible Stamp Duty Holiday extension here, using the streaming link at the bottom of...

Today’s the day when Parliament debates a possible extension to the stamp duty holiday beyond its March 31 cliff edge deadline...

Property portals remain an essential marketing tool for estate agents and their value is clearly appreciated by consumers. However, with a...

Welcome to the start of another week and this catch up on the latest moves within the agency world. Everyone featured here...

Connells Group, now on the threshold of taking the ailing Countrywide empire under its wings, has signed a five year partnership...

An online petition has been started by an independent estate agent seeking a radical overhaul of how homes are sold in...

Labour has entered the cladding controversy by calling a vote in the House of Commons to force government action on the...

Boomin has denied that it will ever allow direct property sales, cutting out estate agents. Founder Michael Bruce says the new service...

Members of staff at an estate agency branch in the Midlands tested positive for Coronavirus in consecutive weeks, triggering a temporary...

A leading mortgage broker is warning that over half the lenders in a key segment of the market are already unable...

Properties are currently taking 29 per cent longer than average to sell once under offer, according to research by a home...

Covid-19 has caused the number of new homes registered by UK house builders to fall 23 per cent in 2020. The NHBC...

Hello and welcome to Agents Do Charity, the regular round-up of industry good work. Whatever the cause, it’s great to publicise agents’...

Property commentator Phil Spencer says lockdown - which we know will now last for another six weeks at least, and possibly...

It now looks likely that Hunters will be taken over by The Property Franchise Group after several months of talks, subject...

Zoopla has revealed a multi-million-pound programme of future developments which have taken 18 months to finalise. Chief executive Charlie Bryant has told...

It’s been some time since online agencies have ventured into crowdfunding to raise investment, but easyProperty has now done so -...

The new chief executive of Propertymark, now combining five agency trade bodies including the NAEA and ARLA, has no experience at...

A new appeal has been launched to discover what happened to missing London agent Suzy Lamplugh. She disappeared in July 1986, aged 25....

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

A large majority of estate agents fear a surge in 'failed sales’ as the stamp duty holiday cliff edge gets ever-closer. The latest National...

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...

A new working group on mental health in the agency industry is being set up following a poll revealing 62 per cent...

I have written this column for over four years. I started writing it at a time when no-one really knew anything...

Just as the new chief executive of Propertymark holds interviews across the industry, so The Guild of Property Professionals is coming out...

The property sector is set to lead the UK out of its Covid slump according to Ernst & Young’s latest forecast....

It's been announced that MPs will after all debate the Stamp Duty Holiday extension following a hugely popular online petition. The 90-minute...

The stamp duty holiday should be extended to include properties that have exchanged but have yet to complete, a leading accountancy...

An estate agency has issued an abject apology for calling the Covid pandemic “a blessing in disguise.” There was a huge social...

A PropTech supplier says the conveyancing process is “antiquated” and buyers and sellers would be better served if they were ’shadowed’...

A new firm has been launched by two agents who formerly worked at Carter Jonas and are aiming at the £400,000...

Connells, which already has the explicit support of a majority of Countrywide shareholders for its takeover of the company, has now...

An international property and residency consultancy claims the sold prices of homes in some prime London locations have collapsed by up to 40...

One of the country’s top auctioneers is not going to stage any ballroom auctions this year - and it’s keeping its 2022...

Propertymark, combining both the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Letting Agents, claims to speak for the...

High profile agency owner Sean Newman is offering his entire self-employed team of 100 agents and mortgage advisors a chance for...

Despite the booming housing market the whole property sector - a key indicator of the economy's performance - has seen 11,000...

Purplebricks’ new chief marketing officer appears to be on the threshold of making major changes in the agency’s publicity drive. Advertising industry...

Countrywide shareholders will next month have the opportunity to vote on the Connells bid to purchase the troubled estate agency group. The...

Talks continue between The Property Franchise Group and Hunters with both companies agreeing a new deadline of next Friday, January 29. Just...

A leading analyst is questioning whether buyers have benefitted from the stamp duty holiday because demand has purshed up prices far...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors last night announced a dramatic U-turn in the controversy over a report by an independent...

Today will see a firm decision on whether The Property Franchise Group will take over rival franchise network Hunters.  In early December TPFG...

Free-to-list portal One Dome has launched a dedicated New Homes section - in line with the longer-established paid-for portals - and...

A hybrid agency is appealing to corporate estate agents to jump ship and try its self employed business model. Mr & Mrs...

The New Year lull is well and truly over and this week’s Agents Do Charity show fundraising is back in business despite...

The BBC says some buyers are taking advantage of lockdown rules to travel hundreds of miles to view homes. The story suggests...

The MP who presides over online petitions such as the one calling for an extension of the stamp duty holiday says...

By any available metric, Belvoir had a good 2020. Already a well-known and well-established name, it was highly praised for its...

Purplebricks - which for some years has been the focus of controversies over reviews - has been given a prestigious award...

Another group of independent estate agents have launched a portal - a rival to a similar project launched by other agencies...

A new estate agency listing historic houses is to have “a select group of creatives and thinkers” that will assist in the...

The government may be stopping MPs debating an extension to the stamp duty holiday - despite a pledge they would do...

An estate agent has shut both branches of his business for safety reasons and wants tighter Coronavirus restrictions on the industry.  ITV...

A property platform claims the current pipeline stock is so large that the average UK agency branch is waiting on £105,000...

Two mysterious online agencies have had their advertisements for the same property banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. The agencies - Manchestersalerent and...

Some 70 per cent of first time buyers in 2020 took out mortgages in excess of 25 years, says the Nationwide. A decade...

Both Rightmove and Zoopla have issued new data showing how the market is changing as buyers’ aspirations alter. Zoopla has looked at where...

A trade body is warning that increased home working triggered by Coronavirus makes the agency industry more vulnerable than ever to...

London buyers have been by far the biggest winners from the stamp duty holiday according to new research. The Keller Williams UK...

A firm calling itself the UK’s first 24/7 home-based agency says it wants to roll out nationally with a network of franchisees...

A PropTech company has won a grant for a project to improve ID verification in the buying and selling process, via...

The buying and property management service run by high profile agent Jo Eccles has changed its name. SP Property Group has now...

The Financial Conduct Authority is extending the ban on repossessions by two months until April 1, in light of the pandemic. The...

The Northern Research Group, which has the backing of over 50 Conservative MPs in the north of England, wants the Chancellor...

The latest Rightmove analysis shows it now takes 126 days from the time an offer is accepted until legal completion -...

Estate agency offices in Wales with five or more staff will have to carry out a Coronavirus risk assessment under new...

Revenues for LSL Property Services - owner of Your Move and Reeds Rains - dropped last year by 15 per cent. Although...

Government guidance on how agents can continue working during the lockdown has given a new importance to virtual viewings, says an...

A PropTech firm claims its new interactive property reports are “the most comprehensive on any UK property” and reduce the need...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering an extension to the current stamp duty holiday according to media reports today - and the...

Housing minister Kelly Tolhurst has resigned from the government for personal reasons. Tolhurst had formal responsibility for the government’s policies to combat...

There's good news for thousands of estate agencies awaiting pay outs under Business Interruption Insurance schemes. The agents are amongst 370,000 businesses whose...

One of the housing market’s senior analysts says the end of the stamp duty holiday on March 31 would not be...

The online petition calling for an extension to the stamp duty holiday is set to pass 100,000 signatures today. This means the...

Propertymark is the only agency trade body with sufficient influence on, and links with, government to achieve major gains for the...

The speed and success of the Coronavirus vaccine programme holds the key to the housing market rebounding in the second half...

Hello and welcome to the end of a busy, busy week for agency news.  It’s easy to assume the agency business is...

A housing index says the market continues to defy Coronavirus and Brexit worries with asking prices up 4.9 per cent in...

An online petition wants all agents’ offices to close during the pandemic. Keeping them open means agents feel "forced and pressured" to conduct...

London mayor Sadiq Khan is reported to be asking the Prime Minister to review the status of ‘essential retail’ which can...

Two of the most outspoken agents in the industry have criticised those calling for an extension to the stamp duty holiday...

One of the most respected figures in the industry, trainer and consultant Richard Rawlings, is suggesting that stamp duty should be...

The housing market remains open in Scotland, despite tighter restrictions announced yesterday by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The only significant difference specific...

Property auctioneer Pugh, which has 11 offices across the UK, has unveiled bespoke new technology to support its work with estate...

Even the prospect of a stamp duty holiday is not enough to persuade many buyers and sellers to enter the market...

A national newspaper is today launching a campaign for the stamp duty holiday to be extended. The Daily Telegraph says its campaign...