Knowledge is power in the fight against lost revenue

Turn your calendar to June and you may have circled the 2nd in red pen – the deadline when agents must respond to the proposed ban on tenant fees in England. The consultation paper has made it clear that all recouping avenues have been blocked off, with a simultaneous ban on landlords and third parties…

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An intelligent search engine for the UK Property Industry?

A new intelligent search engine that lists all properties – in real time – by every estate agent across the UK is being launched. The search engine – proptyle.co.uk – which is the property equivalent of Google, is set to help estate and letting agents boost profits and reduce their monthly outgoing costs. Housstech Limited,…

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ASHFIELD LANDLORDS TO RECEIVE DISCOUNTS IN PROPERTY LICENSING SCHEME

The National Landlords Association (NLA) is encouraging landlords in Ashfield to become accredited to take advantage of discounted property licensing fees. From May 1, landlords in Ashfield will require a licence for every property they let, or they could be subject to a £20,000 fine. The scheme, which is being introduced in Sutton-in-Ashfield and Stanton…

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CIELA challenges the validity and reliability of PurpleBricks

The Charter for Independent Estate and Letting Agents (CIELA) would like to express its outrage to the grossly misleading and misrepresentative portrayal of high street estate and letting agents by Purplebricks. The wildly inaccurate claims issued by the company’s recent press release cite that high street estate agents are lazy, outdated and are a rip…

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BARBON INSURANCE GROUP STRENGTHENS BOARD WITH NEW APPOINTMENT

Barbon Insurance Group Ltd (Barbon), the UK’s leading provider of risk solutions to the residential lettings sector, via its HomeLet and Rentshield Direct brands, has appointed Mark Witherspoon as non-executive director, subject to the usual regulatory approval. Mark brings extensive experience across retail financial services and property sectors.  He is currently Data Services Director at…

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PROFESSIONAL RISK ASSOCIATED WITH PROPERTY PROFESSIONALS

The following paper provides an update on the modern day risks associated with UK property professionals and how the current UK professional indemnity insurance (PI) market is responding. Business Closures And Run Off Cover Since our report of 12 months ago we have seen the industry press consumed with articles concerning stamp duty reform and…

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Can estate agents ditch the bad reputation?

Estate agents have a bad rep. We know you work long hours in an increasingly volatile and competitive marketplace, but a quick Google search reveals what people really think of our industry. And it’s not good. Of course, most estate agents are not evil, liars, and crooks! But when less scrupulous agents visit potential clients,…

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How can the Property Industry adopt the use of Drones effectively

Key Considerations for Estate Agents when using Drones for Aerial Property Marketing. Planning on using drones for advertisements in 2017? You may have read our previous post on “6 reasons why Estate Agents should use Drones for Property Marketing in 2017”, but the property industry still has many unanswered questions around how to effectively adopt the use…

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Residential Property Valuation: The End of The Beginning or the Beginning of The End?

Recently, Zoopla announced its latest acquisition, the capture of housing data firm Hometrack for a cool £120 million. For those that don’t know, Hometrack provides residential property insights, analytics, valuations, and data services to over 400 partners including mortgage lenders, developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities. Should we be concerned by what appears to…

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View My Chain Reduces Estate Agents’ Stress

A revolutionary new cloud-based software tool has shown that it can cut estate agents’ workloads and reduce their stress levels. That’s because View My Chain cuts back on the amount of telephone calls agents have to make chasing up conveyancers and other estate agents. It does this by allowing agents to view their own sales…

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First-time buyer’s increase to 36%

February saw the rate of first-time buyer’s increase to 36%, a demographic that currently accounts for just over one third of February’s property market activity, the largest proportion of first-time buyers since July 2011. It is suspected that the reason for this is twofold; near zero base rate mortgages, and the drop in buy to…

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NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL LAUNCHES LANDLORD TRAINING PARTNERSHIP

North Tyneside Council and the National Landlords Association (NLA) have announced a new partnership that aims to bring professional practice to the private rented sector (PRS). The partnership – the first of its kind between a local council and a landlord body – will see North Tyneside Council encourage local landlords to sign up as…

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