Archive

Today sees the government’s Spending Review, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak taking centre stage as he presents a 12 month spending plan to...

What’s the happiest place in Britain? Rightmove has the answer. In a new ‘Happy At Home’ index calculated by the portal and...

A statement this morning from Countrywide's board says both its executive chairman and its group managing director are leaving the company.  It...

Connells Group has announced a major recruitment drive as it looks to create 250 new agents' positions - and it’s launched...

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

Agents anxious to know if they will receive a payout from their Business Interruption Insurance will have to wait still longer...

The agency industry’s new leaders for the coming year have expressed strong support for reform recommendations promoted by the Regulation of...

Two prominent suppliers have teamed up to offer customers instant visibility of chain lengths, details of agents connected to properties being...

A survey of completion times for house sales over the past four years suggests that the worst performing local authority area...

Connells has increased the temperature in its bid for Countrywide with a surprise statement this morning outlining risks run by Countrywide if...

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

One of Countrywide’s two up-market brands, Hamptons International, has unveiled a new look which it describes as part of “a transformational...

The mixture of the stamp duty holiday and generally fast-rising house prices has led to a resurgence of flipping. Data released this...

Safety checks which are apparently now preventing thousands of owners selling flats are to be eased - but there is confusion...

It may make little difference to agents but a leading analyst suggests thousands of buyers have effectively lost money on their purchase...

A mortgage technology platform has released figures suggesting the housing market remains strong, with high numbers of searches by buyers for...

The director of a conveyancing technology company has hit out at what he calls “an over-reliance on outdated processes” and “age-old...

Countrywide, which is thought to have closed over a fifth of its branches in recent years, has opened a new office...

Reapit has named Mark Armstrong as the new chief executive officer, the post occupied by the high profile and popular Gary...

High profile franchise hybrid agency EweMove has announced ambitious plans to double agent numbers within two years. The firm - which has...

Transactions appear to be edging higher than in 2019 for the first time this year - despite lockdowns and concerns caused...

Hello and welcome to the end of the week - Friday means charity day, with an update on our industry’s latest...

The Boomin portal, which incentivises agents to cross-sell and benefit from referral fees, is to receive advice on fee disclosure from...

The founder of OneDome says a likely housing market slowdown is the perfect time for agents to optimise revenue by investing in PropTech. Babek Ismayil believes...

New research attempts for the first time to identify the most lucrative property markets in the country - with surprising results...

The government has revealed new regional price caps for its revamped Help To Buy Equity Loan scheme, set to operate between...

A leasehold group has written to Housing Minister Chris Pincher pressing for an update on the government’s approach to reform for...

The new property portal Boomin has revealed its fees structure for agents. Tapping into the industry debate over portal fees, Boomin describes...

The customer service performance of conveyancers has improved in recent months according to the ESTAS review platform.  The long-standing and sometimes-heated debate...

Purplebricks has just appointed its new chief marketing officer, who was most recently global director of restaurants at a food chain. Ben...

A TV advert for Rightmove first screened in 2018 has been cleared of gender stereotyping. A complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority...

A slight change to the normal column this week. I was very fortunate to be given the virtual floor at the...

The Home website, which publishes a detailed monthly snapshot of the market, has raised the alarm over London because of a...

One of the country’s top buying agents is advising purchasers and vendors to avoid online agencies and 'bucketshop' conveyancers. Edward Heaton - founder...

A young estate agent who set up his own online auction service took his own life after a long period suffering...

Estate agents can stand out from the crowd and help consumers through lockdown by providing a more secure sales process, a...

The soon-to-launch portal Boomin - set up by the people who founded Purplebricks- has signed another 10 independent agents. They are all...

A regional wing of Fine & Country has reported a record month - and puts it down to the self-employed ‘associate’ business model...

A five-branch agency in the westcountry is the subject of a management buy out by two directors. Westcoast Properties - with branches...

The advertising watchdog has told the agency industry to clean up its act on four issues, with clarity over fees being...

Just when you thought the housing market was beginning to calm down... along comes a likely vaccine for Coronavirus. One of the country’s...

A prominent PropTech supplier wants agents to hand over much more information to conveyancers to allow them to make faster progress on...

Hello and welcome to the latest PJT, your opportunity to catch up on who’s moving where in the agency and supplier...

Zoopla is the first UK property company to launch advertising on Pinterest, the lifestyle picture-centric social media platform. A statement from Zoopla...

Asking prices are down for the first time in many months. It’s a small drop - an average of 0.5 per cent...

A law firm wants the government to agree that properties that have exchanged but not yet completed can definitely benefit from the...

Residential People, one of many free-to-list platforms in the hectic portal marketplace, is set to launch which it calls its “AI...

One of the industry’s leading commentators says an unintended consequence of a possible Capital Gains Tax increase could be a bonus...

The Competitions and Markets Authority is to probe the proposed merger of two crowdfunding sites used by numerous property industry companies. Crowdcube...

Hello and welcome to your regular Friday charity round-up from the industry - appropriately enough on the day of the latest...

An unidentified estate agency has been threatened with prosecution by a local council after opening its office to the public during...

A report commissioned by the government suggests a doubling of Capital Gains Tax on profits from the sale of second homes. The government -...

A leading enthusiast of the self-employed agency business model says even in these challenging times people can make a success of...

The latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors review of sales and rentals, often amongst the most pessimistic of analyses, says Covid 19...

A new report funded by high profile consumer champion Martin Lewis says the government must do more to help ‘mortgage prisoners’. These...

A PropTech platform that says it halves the time taken for transactions has just completed a multi-million pound investment round. Coadjute - which...

The London sales market is slowing as Christmas nears but no significant impact has been caused by the second wave of...

Various investors in Countrywide have submitted early online paperwork to The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers - the red tape required to...

The first monthly market monitor to show activity in the housing market tailing off has appeared - and it says momentum...

A former London estate agency owner and finalist on The Apprentice says he’s now returning to the sector to sell new-builds. Jamie...

As you may have seen over the weekend, the long-running Property Natter column – penned by Angels Media chief executive, Nat...

A survey of people currently buying property suggests as many as a quarter may pull out if they know they’ll miss...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says its new Home Survey Standard will be implemented from March and will represent a...

Countrywide shares soared yesterday, rising 47 per cent on the previous close at one point as investors relished the prospect of...

Conveyancers have considered whether the long-standing ‘caveat emptor’ or buyer beware principle in a property purchase should be replaced by ‘vendor...

The six brands that make up The Property Franchise Group are the latest signings for yet-to-launch portal Boomin. TPFG’s brands are national...

Aspire, the six-branch south west London agency, has dropped its previous franchise structure and reverted to being owned outright by its...

A relaunched home buying service says it wants to partner with agents to unlock sales if the housing market deteriorates. The service...

Connells has issued a counter statement to this morning’s announcement by Countrywide that a possible takeover is underway. At 7am Countrywide revealed...

It’s been announced this morning that Connells is in takeover discussions with the troubled Countrywide agency group. Countrywide has given Connells until...

Your Move is to become the English Football League’s official Communities Supporter for the coming season. The agency is already an Official...

A leading firm of conveyancers will this week tell new clients that their property purchases are likely to miss the stamp...

House prices by the end of October were running 7.5 per cent above their level a year ago - but the...

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

Foxtons has announced that its remuneration policy for senior management is to stay unchanged - and it says a voting problem...

The 2021 ESTAS Customer Service Awards are to be held on Friday June 11. For the first time the awards will host...

Strike, the firm previously known as HouseSimple, has launched another attack on the charges levied by High Street agents. This time it is...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the furlough scheme until the end of March. It will continue under the current rules, with the...

Over a fifth of key businesses say they do not trust any element at all of automated anti-money laundering checks and...

The trend of buyers apparently fleeing the city to get more for their money in the country has hit the buffers...

Hello and welcome to yet another Agents Do Charity, the weekly forum for the industry to share its good news on...

Fledgling portal Boomin - launching later this month - has announced another 10 independent regional agencies as founder members. This includes its...

New guidance spells out how leniency can be exercised on agencies or individuals who inform on anti-competition cartels of the kind that...

High end agents usually keep their powder dry when it comes to party politics, to avoid upsetting customers. However Knight Frank has...

The Bank of England’s monthly interest rate decision was made today - but instead of it being announced at 12 noon,...

Hunters chairman and Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake has hit out at allegedly false claims made by Donald Trump and Nigel Farage. Trump’s...

A new survey has been launched by the Residential Property Surveyors Association. The RPSA - which wants to rival the RICS as...

The government has unveiled the public health regulations which will underpin the second national lockdown in England - and the exemptions...

I remember so clearly in my Foxtons days, working as a lettings manager in Putney, that lettings, though less sexy than...

The Business Interruption Insurance saga, involving hundreds of agencies awaiting pay-outs on policies, enters its next and final stage later this month. An...

Buyers in around 30 per cent of English cities are almost certainly already too late to complete a purchase by March 31...

A London property investment consultancy says 22 per cent of properties it’s advised overseas purchasers on this year have been bought sight-unseen. London...

A leading board member of NAEA Propertymark warns a small number of rogue agents continue to flout anti-money laundering regulations - and...

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

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

Boomin is to levy a traditional monthly fee for estate and letting agents listing on the site, in line with other...

The national lockdown beginning on Thursday makes the case for an extension to the stamp duty holiday, according to a tax...

An online agency says its virtual auction service can be used even by its rivals between now and the end of...

Advanced information released today about Boomin suggests it will seek a much closer relationship with agents than existing portals, with lifetime...

There’s one key takeaway for agents from the weekend’s announcements on the next England-wide lockdown - the housing market is staying...