Agency repays Covid loan early because industry has done so well

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

Founder Adam Horton says: “We took a £50,000 bounce back loan during the first lockdown, as we didn’t know how the property market was going to react to the restrictions and we thought it would be a good precautionary measure to help protect our business”. 

The property market was released from lockdown measures in May 2020, allowing viewings, valuations and house moves to take place, subject to social distancing. 

The industry has since benefited from the stamp duty holiday and its subsequent extensions, as well as stimuli such as the government-backed five per cent deposit mortgages.

“After the market reopened, it became very busy and as a result we have made the decision to repay the £50,000 loan in full at the first opportunity. 

“We are conscious that these loans were created specifically to help businesses impacted by the lockdowns, and they were backed by taxpayers’ money. We’re pleased to do our bit and return the funds at the earliest day we could”.

Hortons Estate Agents was founded in Leicester in 2016 and has since become one of the East Midlands’ fastest growing estate agencies covering Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. 

Adam Horton told Estate Agent Today at the time of the launch that his modus operandi was similar to Purplebricks, using locally-based experts - he calls them partner agents - to advise individual clients.