Tag: Property News

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Back-To-Work guidance for agents expected this week

Back-To-Work guidance for agents expected this week

The chief executive of NAEA Propertymark says he expects specific government guidance later this week for estate agents to return to work safely.

This follows the shock of yesterday’s 50-plus page document on return to work guidance which failed to address any agency-related issue.

“I was disappointed that the Prime Minister’s announcement didn’t contain any answers for estate agents” Hayward tells Knight Frank in an interview for the agency.

“We are in daily contact with the government and I am cautiously hopeful that there will be some sector-specific guidance this week. We are hopefully moving closer to something that resembles a functioning marketplace.”

Hayward says he expects the guidance, which will come from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, will answer questions that many in the industry have.

“People are confused. If tradespeople are now allowed into the property, why not estate agents? The government is telling people to go to work if they need to, does that include doing market appraisals?”

He hopes there will be “some sort of slackening” of the rules and said leaked details from last week would hopefully form the basis of any announcement.

Measures under consideration included masks, hand sanitiser and alcohol wipes being required during viewings, which could be limited to two people plus the agent.

Other measures under discussion could mean owners or tenants are asked to vacate the building and those viewing would be asked not to touch surfaces. Also under discussion was the banning of open house events and limiting viewings to 20 minutes.

John Rockel, Head of Strategy and Operations at Knight Frank, says that while the resumption of business under social distancing restrictions would be challenging “it can be done safely for staff and customers and we’re ready for it”.

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Don’t give in to buyers wanting viewings, agents told

Don't give in to buyers wanting viewings, agents told

There’s been a surge in buyers wanting to view properties – but agents must sit on their hands and wait for government clearance.

That’s the advice from NAEA Propertymark overnight as it responds to the frustrating government guidance issued yesterday on how businesses emerge from lockdown.

To the disappointment of some in the industry, the government’s 60-page document which was released yesterday utterly ignored the housing market and agency sector.

Most analysts felt the nearest business category defined in the document was “non-essential retail” which may open sometime after June 1 so long as safe processes can be agreed. However at the same time the guidance suggests domestic cleaners can visit a home with immediate effect – which could be a loophole for agents to exploit.

A statement from Propertymark last evening says: “Consumers’ demand for viewings has increased today with potential buyers across the UK contacting members.”

But it warns that the guidance first set out by the government on March 26 – and explicitly ruling out physical viewings – remains in force and must be adhered to.

There is evidence that the lockdown is being circumnavigated by some agents; within minutes of the government document being publish yesterday afternoon, Estate Agent Today was told of a London agency chain allegedly showing viewers around properties surreptitiously; and in Devon, one agent told EAT that he had allowed a buyer to view a property after the owner stepped out.

However, the NAEA – although clearly frustrated that recent discussions with government have not led to any date for lifting agents’ lockdown – says the guidance set out over six weeks ago still holds.

“Consumers that are demanding viewings are leads to be nurtured until the point at which a face to face viewing – if that is the final hurdle – can once again be executed safely. This nurturing can involve video viewings and vendors conducting a more amateur viewing by phone around the house, where 360-degree software is not available” continues the association.

And NAEA Propertymark states: “It remains the case that where staff can carry out work from home this is Public Health England’s preference, freeing up space on public transport for those who cannot work remotely. When the time comes, agencies may choose to return staff to branches on a rotational basis combining branch and home-based work to accommodate re-opening with the required social distancing.

“Although Propertymark does not yet know exactly when the Government will allow estate and letting agency premises and auction houses to re-open, business managers must make appropriate preparations within the information that is available now.

“This will vary across premises and companies but key common areas are: arranging sufficient stocks of personal protective equipment and easy to access cleaning products and sanitiser but also considering whether there is sufficient space between work stations and preparation for minimising the hazards of frequently touched areas such as door handles, taps, kitchens, and toilets.”

Meanwhile another omission from the government document has been picked up by the Winkworth franchise chain.

“The key to keeping the second-hand and new build homes markets active is for banks to allow valuers to go back to work to allow mortgages to progress. This could be done with strict social distancing, hygiene and wearing of masks and other protective clothing rules in place. The government needs to consider this as a priority” explains Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth.

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Mortgage holidays could be extended to up to a year

Mortgage holidays could be extended to up to a year

The Financial Conduct Authority is reported to be considering offering homeowners up to 12 month’s mortgage holidays.

Currently 1.2m mortgage payment holidays have been offered by lenders to customers impacted by the Coronavirus crisis – that’s equivalent to one in every nine mortgages.

These were expected to be short term.

However The Times this morning says the holidays could be for up to 12 months in a bid to avoid widespread arrears and eventually repossession.

The number of payment holidays currently in place more than tripled in the two weeks between March 25 and April 8 with an average of some 61,000 being granted each day.

For the average mortgage holder, the payment holiday amounts to £260 per month of suspended interest payments, with many benefitting from the option of extending the scheme for up to three months.

Now it appears a longer holiday is on the cards as the virus crisis has further impact on jobs.

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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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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.
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Say No To Rightmove campaign “lacks long-term vision” says portal boss

Say No To Rightmove campaign “lacks long-term vision” says portal boss

The Say No To Rightmove campaign, which expects to have some 3,000 offices signed up by the end of the month, has been accused of lacking long-term vision.

And the agent behind the campaign – Rob Sargent, chief executive of the Acorn agency group operating in London and parts of the south east – has been told that he should “impartially set realistic expectations and thoroughly examine all alternatives to the current status quo.”

The comments come from Andrew Goldthorpe, chief executive of the Property Mutual portal, in a lengthy contribution to the portals debate on LinkedIn.

He says it is encouraging to see agents finally taking collective action through the SNTR campaign against “the ever-increasing fees of Rightmove” but he says he’s surprised that “the strategy appears to revolve around short-term objectives based on corporate fee reductions and lacks a long-term vision for the industry.”

Goldthorpe is particularly sceptical of what he sees as the campaign’s promotion of OnTheMarket as a possible alternative option for agents disenchanted with Rightmove, asking: “What possible benefit is to be gained by giving additional control to another [stock market] AIM listed corporation in the form of Onthemarket PLC?”

Goldthorpe congratulates Sargent for becoming the figurehead of long overdue collective action by agents, but then adds: “As a founding member and shareholder of Onthemarket PLC, I believe it is incumbent upon him to impartially set realistic expectations and thoroughly examine all alternatives to the current status quo.”

The Property Mutual boss says neither Rightmove nor OTM is under any obligation to consider themselves “the agent’s friend” and warns that PLC boards are not obliged to acquiesce to the demands of agents.

“Agents sold that right, like turkeys voting for Christmas, when they voted to sell ownership of these businesses to the public and institutional investors. The primary purpose of both PLCs is to increase revenue, dividends, and market capitalisation, year on year, for their investors. The fact this process happens to be at the expense of estate and letting agents is irrelevant and unfortunately a situation of agents’ own making. PLCs are not the agents’ friend, at any price” he adds.

Instead Goldthorpe calls for what he describes as “a hybrid mutual/commercial partnership between two companies, whereby the mutual Ltd (‘the Mutual’) is limited by guarantee and the commercial service provider (‘CSP’) is limited by shares.”

Under this system, mutual members – agents – pay “an affordable subscription fee” and the mutual is legally structured to be never for sale, with a charitable assignment clause.

The mutual pays the CSP a service charge to develop, manage, support and market the portal over a minimum term contract period of five years, and commits to spending 50 per cent of its revenue on marketing the portal.

Profits are shared and “could either be filtered down to agents or reinvested into the portal based on a mutual vote.”

Goldthorpe says such a structure is transparent, independent, and puts agents back in control and says his Property Mutual platform “already provides a fully functional property search platform for residential, commercial, agricultural and overseas properties whilst providing basic lead generation for estate agents.”

And he concludes his LinkedIn piece saying; “In its current form it provides a solid foundation to start mutually shaping and building the next-generation property platform in co-ordination with UK agents.”

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Agencies still getting leads and completing deals despite lockdown

Agencies still getting leads and completing deals despite lockdown

It may seem a long time since normal trading took place but many agencies are now finding they are picking up leads and some deals despite the lockdown.

Midlands agency Centrick says it’s seen positive results in recent weeks thanks to what it calls its ‘digital-first’.

Since the lockdown began on March 23 it has edited and uploaded over 140 virtual viewings. All the viewings were filmed before restrictions were put in place and the agency says that it has since had the time to edit and release them.

The agency has also devised a contactless handover so that tenants can sign contracts digitally and collect keys without having to meet face-to-face.

“Despite lockdown restrictions prohibiting people from moving home unless it’s absolutely essential, we are still seeing leads pour in thanks to the marketing campaigns we have in place. By providing services which allow consumers to engage with us while following social distancing rules – such as virtual viewings and instant online valuations – we have been able to find opportunities and keep the business ticking over” explains Andy Butts, Centrick’s group sales and lettings director.

The firm says its commitment to digital marketing has allowed it to continue generating leads, even though a large proportion of the market has been on hold for a number of weeks now.

For example, Centrick generated over 200 rental property leads over the Easter weekend alone. The agency has also continued to generate vendor and landlord leads through its ValPal instant online valuation tool. Many of these leads have come directly from Facebook ad campaigns, while it has also been promoting its hugely successful virtual viewings across social media platforms.

“Centrick is a model agency. It is adapting to a challenging market and still managing to interact with consumers while adhering to the government’s lockdown rules,” says Craig Vile, Director of The ValPal Network.

“The agency’s results show that the market is still active and demonstrate why committing to digital marketing during this tricky period can be hugely beneficial. Encouraging consumers to carry out instant online valuations of their properties can help agents to keep consumers engaged in the moving process now and fill their sales funnel so they can hit the ground running when the market becomes more active in the coming months” says Vile.The ValPal Network is a product of Angels Media, publisher of Estate Agent Today and other Today titles.

Meanwhile John Bray and Partners in Rock, north Cornwall, says it is still negotiating new sales and taking on new property.

“Last week we agreed a sale on a property with a guide price of £275,000. It was empty having recently been refurbished throughout … A local buyer viewed the particulars, and the video walk through, and entered into competitive bidding to secure the property above the guide price. Launch to agreed sale happened in just two days” explains John Bray partner Josephine Ashby.

“Another recent deal involved a brand-new property in North Cornwall. One of the buyers had seen the house, but the other hadn’t managed to visit prior to lockdown. They decided they were happy to proceed on the basis of a video walkthrough and the sale is progressing” she adds.

“Video walk-throughs are becoming common-place for vendors who aren’t happy to wait out the lockdown. Where property is vacant we are able to produce these videos safely, and serious buyers are often happy to buy without visiting the property in person.

“We are also using virtual staging for vacant properties to help buyers get an impression of what the property would look like furnished.”

Ashby says some vendors prefer to put their property on the market under the radar, appearing on the agency’s own website but not on the portals.

“Our web traffic is up 50 per cent since the lockdown, and 80 per cent of that figure is made up of new visitors. Telephone calls are dramatically reduced, but buyers and sellers who call are very serious. We have time to spend talking everything through in great detail.”

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Reapit’s PropTech deal aims to accelerate completions and cut fall-throughs

Reapit's PropTech deal aims to accelerate completions and cut fall-throughs

PropTech big names Reapit and ViewMyChain are joining up to try to accelerate transactions when the lockdown finally ends and the sales market returns.

They say that 55 per cent of all housing transactions in normal times are in chains, making it more essential than ever that agents know the status of each transaction.

This will be particularly crucial post-lockdown when agents have to rebuild pipelines and cashflow, especially if furloughing staff costs is no longer an option.

Reapit and View My Chain have therefore created a Chain View platform that provides “a dynamic, data-driven view of the entire chain status” against key milestones.

There are no upfront charges but agents pay when individual transactions complete – £25 at the point of each completion.

“The partnership of Reapit and View My Chain will help expedite transactions in the immediate post-COVID-19 market. With £125-billion worth of impending sales commission waiting for agents, linking the Chain View platform with Reapit’s agency software will ease the burden on resource-tight agencies to gently pull chains to completion” explains Gary Barker, chief executive officer of Reapit.

View My Chain’s chairman Ian Lancaster adds: ”This has been an incredibly difficult platform to create and many have failed before us in successfully aggregate both property chains and all the relevant milestones. The View My Chain platform done it now through strategic partnerships to become the single eco system that can finally transform the UK residential housing market.”