Estate agents down £119m a year from missed calls...

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09 June 2022

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By Marc Shoffman

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Estate agents down £119m a year from missed calls

Estate agents could be losing thousands of pounds a year to missed calls.

Communications platform YourBusinessNumber analysed data on the typical number of missed calls in the UK and linked it to the number of estate agents and typical average sale that could have been lost.

Figures from AirCall and BTComms show that missed calls are estimated to cost UK businesses £30bn a year.

With 5.6m businesses in the UK, this equates to an average annual loss of £5,357 per business.

There are thought to be 22,145 real estate agencies currently operating across the UK property market, according to YourBusinessNumber.

If each suffers a loss in revenue to the tune of £5,357 each year due to missed calls, this equates to a total loss of £119m across the sector on an annual basis.

Regionally, the biggest losses are being endured in London, home to the largest number of estate agents at 6,445 - accounting for 29% of all UK agents.

As a result, the capital’s estate agents are losing out on £34.5m a year due to missed calls.

Agencies in the south east of England are also suffering as a result of missed calls, with YourBusinessNumber estimating they lose £18.5m a year.

In the east of England this loss of income equates to £11.6m annually and estate agencies are losing £10.1m every year due to missed phone calls in the north west.

George Lineker, co-founder of YourBusinessNumber, said: “The UK property sector has seen an overwhelming level of market activity since the start of the pandemic and the nation’s estate agents have been on the front line working tirelessly to process this heightened demand.

“This will have stretched many of them from an operational standpoint and it’s inevitable that, at times, the phone will have gone unanswered as a result.

“However, these missed opportunities can be costly and so it’s little surprise that businesses are now embracing instant messaging as a primary method of communicating with customers and receiving new business leads.

“By doing so, they can not only ensure that nothing slips through the cracks, but they can also reply at a far quicker rate, which not only prevents a loss of revenue, it also improves the level of service provided.”

Table shows estimated losses due to missed phone calls for UK estate agencies
Location	Number of real estate agencies - 2021	Real estate proportions (of UK total)	Est cost of missed calls per year	Est cost of missed calls to real estate agencies
London	6,445	29.1%	£5,357	£34,526,786
South East	3,455	15.6%	£5,357	£18,508,929
East of England	2,175	9.8%	£5,357	£11,651,786
North West	1,890	8.5%	£5,357	£10,125,000
South West	1,840	8.3%	£5,357	£9,857,143
West Midlands	1,530	6.9%	£5,357	£8,196,429
Yorkshire and The Humber	1,230	5.6%	£5,357	£6,589,286
East Midlands	1,190	5.4%	£5,357	£6,375,000
Scotland	875	4.0%	£5,357	£4,687,500
Wales	615	2.8%	£5,357	£3,294,643
North East	495	2.2%	£5,357	£2,651,786
Northern Ireland	405	1.8%	£5,357	£2,169,643
England	20,250	91.4%	£5,357	£108,482,143
United Kingdom	22,145	100.0%	£5,357	£118,633,929

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- Property Pundit
- 09 June 2022 09:08 AM
Jeez.

- jan byers
- 09 June 2022 11:05 AM
What a load of rubbish there is no way to quantify this.
If I ring and do not get a reply I leave a message and or ring back when the company is open.

- Martin Lonsdale
- 09 June 2022 11:25 AM
First paragraph says "Could be" so therefore no hard evidence, just speculation. No doubt half of these supposed missed calls will be time wasters any way. If someone wants my services, they can try back by phone or an email asking me to ring them. Problem solved.