Author: Antony Antoniou

Antony Antoniou MAPD, has been involved in property for over two decades, in developing, sales and rental. With an inherent love of property and a comprehensive knowledge of Northampton and the surrounding area, he is well placed to deal with all aspects of the sales process, from sourcing, valuing, marketing and sales progression.
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Fury over agent breaching government rules on opening to public

Fury over agent breaching government rules on opening to public

There’s been a furious response to the agent who appears to have breached government rules by opening his branch to the public – believed to be the first agent to do so.

Yesterday we revealed that Liddington Bone Property, a single-office sales and lettings agency in Gloucester, opened its doors and adopted a ‘one in, one out’ policy. Extensive social distancing measures were implemented.

However, a poll of over 600 readers of Estate Agent Today showed a strong 66 per cent against the move, and none of the 21 strongly-worded comments left on EAT, all by known agents, backed the company.

Last evening the company’s telephone was not being answered and its Facebook page appeared to have been taken down; it is not known if it will repeat the opening today.

Yesterday evening NAEA Propertymark’s chief executive Mark Hayward told EAT: “Estate agents are still termed a non-essential business and should therefore be obeying the government’s guidance. Agents should continue working from home and utilise virtual viewings. Offers are still being accepted virtually, and agents are agreeing to sales, subject to contract and a physical viewing once lockdown measures are eased.”

And Paul Offley, compliance officer for The Guild of Property Professionals, told EAT: “While The Guild has been lobbying the government to consider estate and lettings agents to be among the first sectors to open, and we have been issued government-back guidelines to our nembers on safely returning to work, our advice to our network remains work from home unless you are unable to do so.

“If the government and health experts’ advice and guidelines are not adhered to, we run the risk of a prolonged lockdown, a possible second wave of infections and far greater damage to the economy and our sector.

“The advice is, if you can work remotely, do so … We will continue to follow government guidance until such time as any restrictions are lifted.”

Arguably the most relaxed response came from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Late last evening it gave Estate Agent Today a statement saying: “The single most important action we can all take, in fighting coronavirus, is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives. When we reduce our day-to-day contact with other people, we will reduce the spread of the infection.

“To reduce social contact, the Government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close to members of the public. The government has agreed the list of closures in line with advice from medical professionals. In England, Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor compliance with these regulations.”

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Third of agents say some staff will permanently work from home

Third of agents say some staff will permanently work from home

A third of agencies say at least some of their staff will be working from home permanently when the Coronavirus pandemic ends.

A survey by The Guild of Property Professionals reveals that while over 80 per cent of agencies believe a traditional bricks and mortar office will remain important – and that this would continue to form the basis of their business model – there are different views as to what form this would take.

When asked if they would consider a hub style agency in the future with agents working remotely, half said yes while the other 50 per cent said they were happy with their current model and wouldn’t want to change.

The Guild consists chiefly of smaller independent agencies, which according to chief executive Iain McKenzie makes it more likely they will regard a High Street presence as critical to promoting their brand and services, and to help them be part of their community.

“While most said that their office environment would need to be set up differently to ensure social distancing restrictions and health guidelines were adhered to, the majority were hoping to return to their offices and keep their agency model as it was” notes McKenzie.

“Although websites, portals, social media, and more recently virtual viewing and valuation tools, are key elements to the estate agency, many still feel that a physical office presence and being able to interact with the public will remain a large part of their business going forward, even with social distancing measures in place.”

In the short term, he says agencies are clearly open to accommodate whatever changes are required to meet restrictions imposed by the virus crisis.

“Around 53 per cent of members said that they would have fewer desks in their offices, with approximately a third saying they would enable some of their employees to work remotely on a permanent basis. If the last few months has taught us anything, it is that agents need to be adaptable, ready to innovate and of course resilient” adds McKenzie.

He says the Guild has worked with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop the six-point guide for agents returning to work safely

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New plea to help self-employed agents missed by Corona schemes

New plea to help self-employed agents missed by Corona schemes

NAEA Propertymark has made a series of demands on the government in the light of the Coronavirus crisis.

In a formal written response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s Inquiry into the impact of Coronavirus on the private rented sector, NAEA makes several calls for action.

The aim of the inquiry, which closed its deadline for written submissions on Tuesday, is to examine how effective the government has been in supporting individuals in the private rented sector.

In a statement on its submission, Propertymark says it highlighted the positive steps the government had taken so far such as extending business rates relief and including commission in furloughed pay.

However, it says concerns remain about access to support for agents who are self-employed and the disparity in how the Small Business Support Grants are being administered by different local authorities across the country.

In a section of its submission entitled Support for self-employed agents, Propertymark says:

“Some limited company directors and small businesses have fallen between the government’s economic support packages. 

“To support this segment of the employment market the government could ask company directors to self-report their average dividend income in order to obtain a similar measure of support to the 80 per cent of income that self-employed and PAYE workers can access. 

“Furthermore, agents who are self-employed had to have filed their 2018-19 tax return by 23 April 2020 to receive support under the Self-employment Income Support Scheme. 

“However, if they had more recently become self-employed, such as from April 2019 it is not clear what support is available. In addition, payments will not be made until June 2020 which means three months of no income when many agents continue to have bills and overheads to pay.”

Propertymark also makes a series of demands on renters’ knowledge of packages available to help them, the suspension of mandatory electrical checks, a review of future maintenance and safety checks, the postponement of all rental licensing schemes, and the treatment of arrears.

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Mortgage demand rises as market sees light at the end of the tunnel

Mortgage demand rises as market sees light at the end of the tunnel

The demand for mortgages in April was scarcely a quarter of what it was in March – but the figures show that there’s been an increase each week since Easter suggesting there’s light at the end of the lockdown tunnel.

Technology company Twenty7Tec analyses mortgage statistics and shows that for the week ending Saturday May 2;

– The volume of online searches for mortgage information was 5.36 per cent up on the previous week and 21.32 up on two weeks before;

– The total value of loans granted was up 2.93 per cent on the previous week and up 23.59 per cent on two weeks before;

– Mortgages for new purchases represented 31.74 per cent of the searches made online last week, compared to recent lows averaging 24.5 per cent;

– Searches for mortgages for buy to lets (both to purchase and to reportage) stood at 25.01 per cent of all mortgage searches.

“The data tells us that we are gently on the up again and have been ever since Easter. Across the board, we are seeing higher search volumes, higher levels of documentation prepared and higher total levels of loans requested” explains James Tucker, chief executive of Twenty7Tec.

“Buy to let is probably the story of the week, representing around one-fifth more of the total market than the long-term average [ but] whilst it’s great news that this week’s searches for purchase mortgages continue to rise, the volumes remain considerably down on their January to March peaks. This week’s volumes are only 26 per cent of the weekly volumes in mid-March.”

He continues: “In comparing April to March, it’s worth noting that April had two Easter bank holidays and that March was a day longer, but also that the volume of mortgage products on the market was considerably lower than the month prior.

“Despite the difficult conditions, lenders quickly moved to address the changes in the market conditions and amended, updated and replaced their products at an unprecedented rate. Brokers responded well and were able to focus in on those areas of our industry where volumes remained higher.

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ONEDOME – A breath of fresh air

Ladies & gentlemen, I had the pleasure of speaking to George Lawson yesterday, on behalf of Onedome, an emerging property portal that has really been gathering pace in recent months.

Onedome guarantee to be free for 100 years, laying the foundation for a revolution in property marketing. Having acquired nethouseprices a while back and now in partnership with Facebook marketplace, properties are placed in all three locations, for even greater exposure.

The current crisis has highlighted many issues that agents have with the current portals, with many having faced large overheads, regardless of the fact that their ability to operate has been seriously constrained by the lockdown.

Understandably, there has been mutiny in the ranks, with many agents leaving one or more of the ‘big three’ portals, for obvious reasons.

I have no doubt that any agent willing to make the effort can sell property without being a slave to any portal, I know from experience the we at Fine & Country take pride in our relentless proactive approach to marketing property, but that is not the issue here.

As I see it, amongst all the figures, the overheads, the contractual agreements and the frequent and often justified claims by agents of being at the mercy of the portals, there is one other factor that concerns me more, that is the public.

Whilst it is more than possible to bring property to the attention of potential buyers, both active and passive in many ways, we must ask ourselves, where do the public look first and why?

I conducted a poll recently in the Northants Property Post, the response was mainly local, although being online, there was some response further afield and the results were pretty much what I expected, however, I have no doubt that should I have asked the public a different question, I have no doubt that I would have received a different response.

What if I were to ask the public this question?

“Would you be more or less likely to search the portal with the most property first?”

I have no doubt that the vast majority would say yes and this my friends is the foundation of any portal. It is we, the agents who can and do make or break the portals, it is we who provide them with the very content that drives people to their site, without us, they are little more than a few pages of php code.

For this reason, I was delighted to welcome a portal that acknowledges this fact and has been established with an ethos that appreciates the value of the agent. However, on the subject of the public, I would like to make one final point, the easier it is for the public to search for a property, the easier it is for them to find a property, and that cannot be a bad thing.

If a potential buyer is not aware of a property, because it is not in the first one or two place they may look, they may have missed out on that property, but simultaneously, the seller of that property may have missed out on a buyer and potentially, a higher offer.

Although I have no doubt that we will commence our journey to recovery soon and that we will succeed in doing so, we must not underestimate the severity of the current situation. Therefore, the opportunity to present our properties to the public, collectively and ubiquitously, is an opportunity that we should not be ignored. The property market is in many ways the start of the financial food chain, with thousands of jobs and billions of pounds generated as a result. For this reason, in my opinion, I consider this to be the right opportunity at the right time.

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Virtual Viewings here to stay even after lockdown – PropTech chief

Virtual Viewings here to stay even after lockdown - PropTech chief

Babek Ismayil, founder and chief executive of the OneDome Group – which operates the free to list OneDome and Nethouseprices portals – says the use of virtual viewings during the Coronavirus crisis has triggered interest and enthusiasm that will continue into the future.

Ismayil, a former senior vice-president of credit trading at JPMorgan, says: “For many properties, traditional in-person viewings will still be required. However, virtual viewings are very useful for prospective buyers who live far away from the property or those who want to get an initial feel of a home before deciding whether it is worth visiting.

“Virtual viewings can therefore help agents to identify the most serious buyers and potentially contribute towards speeding up transactions.”

He believes agencies should now be preparing and training staff for the post-lockdown market, with virtual viewings as an integral offer to customers.

OneDome has created a free guide for agents on setting up and using virtual viewings, via Zoom, Facebook or Facebook Live. You can see it here.

Ismayil says his OneDome portal allows prospective buyers to request a video viewing of a property where they would usually request a traditional viewing. The request is then sent directly to the agent for them to confirm whether or not they can provide a virtual viewing.

The group has over 5,500 estate agents as customers and says that last month it received 1.37m unique monthly visitors to its sites, generating 120,000 leads for agents listing with it.

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Buy-to-let remains ‘a solid long term investment’

Buy-to-let remains ‘a solid long term investment’

With savers receiving poor returns from banks and building societies, thousands of people unsurprisingly continue to turn to residential property as a means of supplementing their income, supported by low mortgage borrowing rates, solid demand from tenants and stable yields, as buy-to-let consolidates itself as the investment of choice.

Despite a challenging few years for the buy-to-let market, characterised by tax and regulatory changes, investment in buy-to-let continues to outperform most major asset classes, as Britain’s rented sector continues to expand, with a sixth of the population – some 10 million people – now living in accommodation rented from private landlords.

A new survey carried out by Perrys Chartered Accountants has found that Londoners are mostly positive about the possibilities of buy-to-let as an investment with four in five – 82% – believing it would be a good investment.

Unsurprisingly, the most likely type of property a Londoner would consider for a rental investment would be a flat or apartment, with 46% of respondents choosing  this option, a higher number than any other region with only Scotland coming close.

Brexit and increased tax and stamp duty rates remain barriers deterring for some investors, which partly explains why 42% of those surveyed cited a reduction in stamp duty and other relevant taxes as their biggest desire when it comes to investing in buy-to-let property.

Some 45% of Londoners thought a buy-to-let property could be utilised as a pension, which is fewer than respondents in all other areas of the country other than Northern Ireland, which could be explained again by the higher proportion of younger people concentrated in the London area.

Almost a third – 32% – would like to use buy-to-let income as a replacement for their current income, while just under a quarter – 24% – saw it as an inheritance for their family.

Donna McCreadie, who is a buy-to-let tax specialist at Perrys, commented: “Buy-to-let is still a solid long term investment despite what current market indications and the drop off in purchases might suggest. It’s interesting that the younger generation still sees it as a way to plan financially for the future. However, there are many things to consider before jumping in, including stamp duty charges, how income tax might be affected and what the return on the investment is likely to be.”

“Investing in a property is a long term plan rather than a quick fix to financial freedom so it’s important to gather as much information as possible and speak to a professional tax specialist and mortgage advisor before making a commitment.”

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New virtual valuation platform offered by major industry supplier

New virtual valuation platform offered by major industry supplier

Industry supplier epropservices has created a new virtual valuation platform to help the industry operate during the lockdown and social distancing periods.
 
Jon Cooke, chief executive of epropservices – the parent company of The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine & Country – says that the service was born out of the need to continue providing sellers with a professional valuation without agents having to physically visit the property.
 
All the vendor needs to do is complete a questionnaire and upload a short video and/or some photos of their property, as well as choose the best date and time for them to take a video call.
 
“Based on the video, photos and information provided, agents will be able to fully research the property and then conduct the face-to-face virtual meeting, choosing the system of their choice to provide an accurate valuation, giving a realistic sales or rental price for the property” explains Cooke.
 
“Following the meeting the agent can send the vendor a detailed report on the property providing them with the pricing expectations, as they normally would do” he notes.
 
“If the vendor decides they would like to go ahead, the agent is then able to start the process of marketing the property and conducting virtual viewings.”
 
According to Cooke, both Fine & Country licensees and Guild Members have the tools to be able to go through the entire process remotely and find either a buyer or tenant for a property without there ever being any physical meetings.
 
“No-one know what the future holds for how we interact with customers or how customer behaviour will change, potentially a virtual valuation platform will always be a vital tool in an agent’s service offering,” Cooke concludes.
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OnTheMarket fails to impress with latest bid to win over agents

OnTheMarket fails to impress with latest bid to win over agents

OnTheMarket’s share price dropped again yesterday, ending down 2.4 per cent.
 
This was despite the portal announcing a share giveaway to encourage new agents to join; the volume of shares they would receive would be dependent on them leaving one or both of the main portals.
 
By contrast, Rightmove’s share price yesterday rose 1.2 per cent.
 
All property share prices have taken a beating since the start of the Coronavirus crisis but over the long term OnTheMarket’s has fared less well than others in the sector.
 
OTM reached its all-time high share price of 176p in June 2018 but its current share price is worth under a third of that peak.
 
Rightmove, by contrast, was on a high of 688p as recently as February this year and after yesterday’s gain stands at 470p – still well over two thirds of its peak.
 
Earlier this month OTM revealed it had rescheduled some arrangements with creditors, was furloughing 22 per cent of its workforce, cutting temporary and sub-contracted IT workers by almost two thirds, and implementing a 20 per cent pay cut for the rest of the workforce and board members.
 
OTM’s share offer yesterday – with the most generous deals available only to those signing up and agreeing to drop the Big Two portals, Rightmove and Zoopla – left critics unimpressed.
 
 
Cheshire agency owner Maurice Kilbride tweeted of the OnTheMarket share proposal: “Wow! I am sure that will have agents clambering to sign up. Drop the other two portals and we will give you more shares in OTM! Which are trading at half their original value!”
 
Andrew Goldthorpe, chief executive of rival portal Property Mutual, commented on Estate Agent Today: “Surely that is limiting the options of the agent to market where they see fit? How is the agent able to act in the best interests of their client and market where and how they see fit? Haven’t we been here before?”
 
Russell Quirk, now a Keller Williams franchise part-owner, tweeted: “OTM advancing the same ethos again and expecting a different outcome. Success as a portal is not about mandating that your customers restrict their choice of advertisers. It’s about proposition, value and, above all, not being taken advantage of. For OTM that boat has sailed.”
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Buckle up – Wave of law cases possible if off-plan buyers pull out

Buckle up - Wave of law cases possible if off-plan buyers pull out

There’s a warning today that the housing market could face a wave of legal disputes if buyers of off-plan new builds fail to complete because of falling prices.
 
Private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield says the impact of the lockdown on residential property values may push the market values of some new build developments substantially below the prices purchasers paid.
 
If buyers decide they will not complete, they may lose the deposits they have paid.
 
However if the property values fall further than the cushion provided by the deposits, the developers of those properties might still pursue the purchasers who – under most contracts – would still be liable for further losses.
 
This problem was relatively widespread following the collapse of UK residential property values after the credit crunch in 2008-2009.
 
In some new build developments scores of investors had to be pursued to ensure they completed transactions they were legally committed to.
 
“The contracts of most residential new-build developments are fairly clear cut and deposits would be at risk. Many purchasers also forget that this might not be the end of it. You may be liable for any additional loss the developer makes from selling that property, on the market, for less than you originally agreed” says the law firm’s property disputes partner, Colin Young.
 
“Hopefully property prices don’t fall too far but there are certainly developers are now exploring their options over deals where the buyers seem to have gone cold. Once the lockdown is over we expect that buyers who should have already completed will start being asked to agree to a new timetable” he continues.
 
“What we are also hoping is that these problems can reach a negotiated settlement.”
 
 
Kellie Jones, a senior associate at the law firm, says the issue is most disruptive where high net worth individuals have committed to buy multiple properties at the same scheme, typically as an invest,ent.
 
“If that HNW is based overseas there is the extra expense of enforcing the judgment of a UK court in another jurisdiction. However, if a development has not been finished on time then a purchaser may take steps to serve a notice to complete so that it can rescind and reclaim the deposit if the seller is unable to comply” she adds.