Archive

Welcome to the latest edition of our daily service dedicated to advice and guidance on how agents can best cope with...

Late last year a buying agent at Stacks Property Search and Acquisition set up a village Good Neighbour Scheme with her...

Can any agency beat Knight Frank for a brilliant collection of selfless work? We doubt it, as the agency has provided...

Kays Estates in the north of England - one of the agencies ‘powered by Keller Williams’ - has prepared packs for...

The Competitions and Markets Authority has started court proceedings seeking the disqualification of two estate agency directors over a price fixing...

The boss of controversial estate agency Dexters has hit out at social media reports and press articles about company staff working...

LSL Property Services says one of its measures to “rightsize” the organisation during the Coronavirus crisis will be to put agents...

Yet another one of the giants of our industry, Hunters, says it’s taking “appropriate measures” to safeguard the firm in the...

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Conquering Corona, our daily update helping the industry cope with the current crisis. If...

Two auctions held behind closed doors have been deemed a success, and evidence that the property market can still function despite...

One of the country’s best known high-end independent estate agencies is marketing a home for £22.5m and hopes it finds a...

It seems an eternity ago but the housing market in February - that’s only last month - was in rude health...

Purplebricks has this morning revealed what it calls “immediate and significant measures to preserve cash and implement a lean operating model”...

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

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

One of London’s most experienced estate agents says there has been a very significant surge in foreclosure sales in part of...

Two property portals insist they’re going to launch this spring despite the Coronavirus chaos effectively closing down much of the housing...

Hello, and we trust you had as good a weekend as possible in these difficult circumstances.  As we start a new week...

Former housing minister Alok Sharma has revealed new measures to allow agencies and other businesses to avoid insolvency during the virus...

Two financial trade bodies say most mortgage providers will give customers who have exchanged contracts the option to extend their mortgage...

The key figure behind the Say No To Rightmove campaign says the fight for more realistic fees goes on - and...

Rightmove has this morning told its shareholders it is “taking appropriate measures” to shore up the company. It gives no indication of...

It’s been reported that the government is talking with banks and building societies about putting the housing market ‘on ice’ during the...

The government has at last issued extensive advice on home moving and the activities of estate agents during the continuing Coronavirus crisis. This...

A hybrid agency says the Coronavirus is a “disrupter and game changer” for the industry and is wanting agents keen to...

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

Owners and investors who may be leaving their properties empty in the current Coronavirus crisis risk having their insurance invalidated. High-end property...

The advantage given to overseas buyers when Sterling weakened during the long-running Brexit saga has returned with the arrival of the...

Hello and welcome to a special Agents Do Charity, given over entirely to a wonderful effort to coordinate the industry’s response...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced new measures to help the self-employed - likely to be welcomed by self-employed estate agents. The Chancellor...

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

An international comparison of how major portals have discounted their charges to agents show Rightmove and Zoopla making “deeper and longer...

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

We'd hoped it was good news but in fact it's just good-news-yet-to-come. The Savills office in Wuhan, the epicentre of the Coronavirus crisis in...

Although all bets are off as to what the housing market will be like after the Coronavirus subsides, there is now...

Estate and lettings agencies that have closed temporarily as a result of the Coronavirus lockdown are to be to exempted from...

There’s been national newspaper publicity and widespread social media criticism of the Dexters estate agency which asked its staff to report...

It’s far too early for authoritative figures on how devastating the Coronavirus lockdown has been on estate agents but there is...

For complete transparency, I write this column first thing on a Tuesday morning and have done for a couple of years...

Hello and welcome to today’s Conquering Corona, our guide to the latest information to help agents and the rest of the...

Advice to removal companies from their main trade body has put a stop to most transactions not already at a very...

The Financial Conduct Authority has released new guidance which clears up some of the uncertainties surrounding the mortgage holidays announced last...

Propertymark has been told the agents should shut their offices immediately - they are not “essential businesses” under the new Coronavirus...

*** 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...

Hello: so much has happened since the last Conquering Corona column . Before we get on with it, a reminder to...

The founder and chairman of Hunters, who is also a Conservative MP, has been criticised for a tweet saying he would...

Purplebricks is anticipating “a prolonged period of low activity” during the Coronavirus crisis with 25 instructions a day according to a...

A PropTech start-up led by a prominent commentator has become the latest part of the industry to take a pop at...

A video interview released this morning features the experiences of eight agents who have quit Rightmove in the past two years,...

There has been scepticism across the industry as to the motives behind an unspecified number of lay-offs and permanent branch closures...

Over 600 agents have now signed up to the Say No To Rightmove campaign including some of the biggest names on...

While controversy swirls around the approach and motives of the sackings and branch closures at Spicerhaart, other agents are showing how...

A mortgage broker that’s just become a partner of OnTheMarket is warning that house prices are likely to fall 10 per...

The property franchise company Belvoir Lettings has laid off 15 workers from its Grantham headquarters - and warns there may be...

The annual FUTURE PropTech conference scheduled for London next month is the latest casualty of the havoc being caused by the...

A senior figure in the industry has spoken out against the shock sackings and branch closures announced by Spicerhaart. Jon Cooke, chief...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a sweeping range of financial measures to try to minimise the impact of Coronavirus...

The two major portals have unveiled their discounts and deals for agents facing a dramatic loss of business because of the...

In an ominous and unexpected trading statement this morning, Foxtons says it will take “all necessary steps” to remain in business. It...

Agent disenchantment with the major portals has continued as a torrid week nears its end. The spotlight has now shifted to Zoopla...

A free-to-list property portal is warning the estate agency industry that it’s facing “dark days” thanks to the Coronavirus crisis and...

Hello - here we are with Friday’s help and advice.  A reminder, if you need it, that we want to share your...

The head of the longest-established agency personnel consultancy in the UK says caution should be exercised over the use of Artificial...

The Property Ombudsman has announced that it will postpone its annual conference, which was to have been on June 18, until...

Industry…we salute you. We thought we may have no good deeds to pass on to readers this week because of the...

One of Britain’s most outspoken and high profile agents has quit Rightmove in spectacular fashion, using an open letter to the...

OnTheMarket this morning announced what it calls “a payment support initiative” for those agents paying full-price membership. It’s for three months and...

There’s been widespread outrage amongst agents at Rightmove’s offer to allow some agents a deferred payment scheme operating for just three...

Beleaguered estate agency group Countrywide has asked the government to give agents a business rates holiday. Measures announced in last week’s Budget...

Hello and here’s the next batch of guidance and advice from different sectors of the industry, many from influential trade groups. It’s...

The former director of customer experience at Purplebricks has been announced as a new partner in a Keller Williams franchise. Sarah Downes,...

Auction houses are the latest part of the residential sector to seek PropTech help to attract business during the Coronavirus crisis. For...

Rightmove is offering some of its agents a deferred payment option. An announcement this morning says: "While sales agreed pipelines have strengthened following...

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...

The current market crisis caused by Coronavirus should present OnTheMarket with an opportunity to pause its existing strategy, talk to agents...

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

A trade group wants councils and search companies to co-operate more closely during the virus to minimise delays to the remaining...

In these uncertain times it’s good to report positive news - ESTAS, the customer review and awards platform, has announced its...

A surveyors’ firm has been wound up after courts declared that it had misled clients over the success of its core...

It's been revealed this evening that Bruce Marsh, who was to become Countrywide's chief operating officer, is now not going to...

Hello and welcome to today’s Conquering Corona, a service we’re running to share official guidance and agents’ advice in a bid...

A key figure behind the setting up of Foxtons has been named as the new chief executive of one of the...

OnTheMarket has signed auto another new homes builder, Miller Homes. "Miller Homes is the latest large homebuilder to join OnTheMarket and we look forward to introducing the...

We all need some good news right now and thanks to Beresfords Property Group, we have one! The firm’s Witham branch manager, Jordan...

Another index shows how strong the market was in the build-up to the escalation in Coronavirus across the country.  The website Home...

Countrywide’s share price has dived over 50 per cent during the course of the day, following news of LSL pulling out...

In a very brief announcement to the City and to its shareholders this morning, LSL Property Services made clear that it...

Estate Agent Today is launching a daily service to help agents facing the Coronavirus threat. This is where you’ll find news, advice...

Estate Agent Today understands that the Knight Frank agency has been hit by a large number of branch office heads quitting...

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

Hello and as it’s Monday it’s PJT Day - and there are plenty of people moving jobs in our industry even...

Rightmove’s latest market snapshot, released this morning, appears starkly at odds with the situation described by some agents in recent days. “The...

The three leading portals have rejected an appeal to give the industry a payment holiday to help firms through the Coronavirus...

A long-standing legal dispute between OnTheMarket and the Gascogne Halman and Connells agencies has been settled. No details have been released but in...

Almost all quoted agencies and portals have suffered as a result of stock market investors being spooked by Coronavirus, with some...

A Spanish housebuilder’s bespoke system to allow prospective buyers to view properties without visiting is being offered to the UK agency...

The Guild of Property Professionals is to give guidance to agents on how to run their businesses remotely.  Chief executive Iain McKenzie...

A Somerset agency with three offices has changed ownership - but remains an independent. Gibbins Richards has offices in Taunton, Bridgwater and...

Welcome to the weekly salute for agents and others in the industry fund-raising for good causes - and we know that...