Posts with tag: online estate agent

One in five high-street estate agents in the UK are at risk of going bust following a surge in online alternatives, a new study has found.

Almost 5,000 high-street estate agents are showing signs of “financial distress”, reports accountancy firm Moore Stephens.

One in Five High-Street Estate Agents at Risk of Going Bust

Traditional firms are likely to have higher property and staff costs, and are struggling to compete with low-cost, fixed fee online estate agents, the report claims.

The research also indicates that the growth in property websites has undermined the role of estate agents.

Moore Stephens’ Mike Finch says: “Traditional high-street estate agents’ profit margins are being squeezed from both sides, from cut-price online competitors to their larger counterparts on the high-street, who are forcing them to up their spending or give up the race.

“Many areas across the UK are over-saturated with estate agents, and competition is becoming too much for some smaller businesses.”

The study follows a slump in profits announced last week by two of the UK’s largest high-street estate agents.

Countrywide – the UK’s biggest listed estate agent – said that pre-tax profits for the six months to June were £447,000 – down from £24.3m in the same period last year.

Revenue and profits at Foxtons also dropped in the first half of the year, as the London-focused agent pointed to “unprecedented” economic and political uncertainty hitting the property market.

The group said that revenue fell by 15% to £58.5m in the six months to 30^th June, with pre-tax profits plummeting by 64%, from £10.5m to £3.8m.

A separate study has found that planning applications for new shops have dropped to an eight-year low, amid continued growth of e-commerce.

There were 6,525 applications in England in the year to March – almost half the number in 2008-09, and down by 11% on 2014-15, according to Lendy, which provides property finance and development loans.

Greater Manchester recorded the greatest decline in retail planning applications last year, it reports.

Liam Brooke, of the firm, adds: “The continued softness in the retail property market shows no sign of abating. Retailers are shunning and shutting bricks and mortar shops.

“The Government needs to find a way to encourage retailers to give the high streets a face lift. Big brands are continuing to shift their focus towards their online services.”

Landlords, have you considered using an online estate/letting agent?

Complaints upheld against high street estate agents have soared by 32% in the past year, according to the latest report from The Property Ombudsman (TPO).

Almost all of the complaints were resolved in favour of the complainant, resulting in record payouts for the consumer – the largest of which was over £16,000 for a lettings dispute.

Complaints Against High Street Estate Agents Soar by 32%

The Ombudsman, Katrine Sporle, warns high street estate agents of the importance of a good reputation.

She says: “Overall, this is good news for consumers and redress, but not so great for the reputation of agents, who collectively paid out over £800,000 in awards. My message for those agents is simple: Pay more attention to TPO’s Codes of Practice and raise your standards.”

Last week, TPO announced that it is updating its Codes of Practice for all those in the property industry: /property-ombudsman-updates-codes-practice/

However, the report does indicate that online and hybrid estate agents continue to wage war against their high street counterparts, with many, but not all, excelling in the customer service they provide.

One of the leading online agents in the sector, eMoov.co.uk, was voted the best in the country out of over 25,000 high street and online estate agents, based on the service it provides to customers.

The Founder and CEO of eMoov, Russell Quirk, says: “It’s almost becoming an estate agency tradition that every year, TPO releases its report on the industry, and every year, the poor practices of the high street sector in particular result in an increase in complaints on the previous year.

“The high street sector is struggling in the current industry environment to say the least, and, despite being squeezed for market share by online and hybrid agents, are only getting worse, rather than pivoting with the new age of estate agency and offering a better customer experience for a fairer price.”

He continues: “Luckily, the customer now has the choice and, thanks to websites such as TrustPilot and AllAgents, can separate the good from the bad, based on reviews from real customers. That’s why at eMoov, we concentrate on how we treat the customer, not the money we gain, and our TrustPilot rating of 9.5 and our rank as number one agent out of 25,800 via AllAgents is a testament to that.

“Despite this positive evolution in the industry, selling or buying a home can occasionally be an expensive and sometimes fraught experience. The Government must now really step in and introduce licensing for all estate agents, in order to regulate against the bad guys, of which there seems to be many.”

If you’re buying or selling a property, does this news put you off using a high street estate agent?