CIELA again shrugs off sabre-rattling by PurpleBricks lawyers:
May 19, 2017
CIELA again shrugs off sabre-rattling by PurpleBricks lawyers, reiterates public request for substantiation of “completed sale” rate.
In response to this Telegraph article, PurpleBricks’s lawyers have written to CIELA for a second time claiming that the statement by CIELA Founder Charlie Wright is defamatory.
CIELA has today (Wednesday) responded (attached) to Norton Fulbright’s letter dismissing their letter as classic corporate bullying tactics with no substance and requesting clarification of the facts.
Charlie Wright said “We fully stand by our position that Purplebricks adverts are misleading because they compare its services to those of indepdent agents, and claims to perform better at a lower cost. This necessarily implies that the services are substantially similar, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
But more importantly, CIELA must not succumb to such corporate tactics – bullying that almost always results in small business owners hushing up, purely due to legal intimidation. This is the kind of behaviour that corporates get away with all the time and cannot be tolerated. It breeds an environment in which only the giants with heavy resources may play, and eliminates the chance of transparency and accountability. This has an unfair knock-on effect for unwitting consumers and agents alike. We must resist such indirect market manipulation; hence CIELA’s publication of its response to Purplebricks in full.
We invite Purplebricks to refute this view with hard evidence which proves otherwise. We will not hold our breath though, as it has consistently ignored many public requests for transparency and substantiation, for obvious reasons.”
Shared by: Charlie Wright charlie.wright@ciela.co.uk
You May Also Enjoy
London rents outperform property values
The latest research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed that rental growth has outperformed house price growth across 26 of London’s 32 boroughs since the start of the year, with rents continuing to climb despite weaker property price performance across much of the capital. Benham and Reeves analysed the average…
Read More 
Rental property availability falls
The number of rental properties available across England fell by 12.1% during the third quarter of 2026, according to new analysis by Dwelly, highlighting an increasingly competitive rental market in many parts of the country. Dwelly is one of the UK’s largest rental property management groups, with more than 15,000 properties under management. The firm’s…
Read More 
Average advertised rents surpass £1,400 for the first time
The average advertised rent of homes outside London has risen to a new record of £1,418 per calendar month, up 1.5% this quarter: Despite a new record rent, annual rental growth has returned to a more stable level of +2.4% Number of available rental homes nationally is 2% lower than a year ago, while renter…
Read More 
Barclays unlocks wider mortgage access for company directors
Limited company directors who meet the income threshold can now have their Profit After Tax (PAT) considered in their affordability assessment regardless of property value The change means that, for a wider group of limited company directors, Barclays will consider a fuller view of the applicant’s income The update is the latest in a series…
Read More 
Homebuyer demand fall in Q3
The latest sales demand data from eXp UK has revealed that homebuyer demand in England slipped by -1.6% in Q3 2026. The analysis shows that just five counties managed positive growth during the quarter, suggesting that buyers may be holding back, adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of what promises to be a vital Autumn Budget –…
Read More 
Alterations can change a property’s rebuild cost
‘Don’t get caught short’ warning to homeowners from valuations experts – alterations can change a property’s rebuild cost Properties change over time. Homeowners may add an extension, upgrade a kitchen or bathroom, alter the layout, or even change how the building is used, but when do those changes mean it’s time for a new rebuild…
Read More