BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 09/07/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

Daily bite-sized proptech and real estate news in partnership with Proptech-X. Today, Stanton looks at Help me Fix, Foxtons, Coadjute, and more.

 

  1. Help me Fix connects qualified tradespeople via video in triage and mend service
  2. Foxtons dumps Chair Ian Barlow due to share price doldrums
  3. Coadjute breaks cover to sell property on the blockchain
  4. TM Group has a new strategic owner and will stride forward
  5. Ministry of Justice wants to hike grant of probate fees

 

Help me Fix connects qualified tradespeople via video in triage and mend service

It has been reported that a video-chat maintenance service connecting tenants to tradespeople over video has seen a marked uptick in new clients. After all, value and efficiency win over the hearts and minds of those in the maintenance sector of lettings.

Ettan Bazil, the founder of Help me Fix, said: “It’s Service as a Software. Help me Fix is a professional service disguised as a piece of software, not the other way around. It saves money for landlords, increases passive income for agents, reduces workload and stress for property managers, and eliminates waiting times for tenants.”

Ettan is a skilled and qualified tradesman in his own right, so he knows what he’s doing. He built the solution having seen first-hand the frustrating process of dealing with maintenance tasks at properties.

The result is a piece of technology that sits in between landlords, property managers, tradespeople and tenants, that gets the right engineer to the right person quickly and efficiently. Game-changer.

 

Foxtons dumps Chair Ian Barlow due to share price doldrums

It has been announced that the incumbent Chair of Foxtons, who has been in place for a number of years but has not managed to steer the ship into calm waters, will step down. Perhaps now a new Chair will get on board with a more intuitive grasp of the realities of real estate in the digital age.

 

Coadjute breaks cover to sell property on the blockchain

I must confess that I do know a great deal about what Coadjute have been up to, and I wish their CEO, Dan Salmons, all the luck. Their tech team, headed up by Founder John Reynolds is second to none.

It is good to see that they have now embarked on a very public working case study with the selling of their first property on their blockchain. I for one genuinely hope that transparency and speed are pulsing through the whole project for all the stakeholders.

 

TM Group has a new strategic owner and will stride forward

The TM Group (UK), fronted by a very clever man named Joe Pepper, has lost two shareholders, LSL and Connells. However, it has gained a strategic new owner in the shape of Dye & Durham, a global force based in the US.

Knowing that there are likely to be further consolidations and alignments where big players look to concentrate their market share, this buyout seems to be a great result for all. Cash for Connells and LSL, and a sole focusing business.

 

Ministry of Justice wants to hike grant of probate fees

It has been announced that the Ministry of Justice is looking at ways of making probate applications pay. At present they are a loss leader. The current line of thought is to have a new blanket fee of £273, replacing the present two-banded system. A consultation is in play ending in late September.

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Volume doubles as property market sees strong return of new applicants

Foxtons Lettings Market Index – January 2026 Demand rebounded sharply from December, with registrations up 93% month on month and new renters per instruction up 11% compared to December, reflecting a seasonal uplift in activity at the start of the year. New renters per new instruction fell 12% year on year, indicating that competitive pressure…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Property valuation leads to agents up 50% on last year

The launch of a new valuation product and AI optimisations to the existing product suite led to a significant uplift in valuation leads for agents from Rightmove in January. Valuation leads grew by 50% in January 2026 compared to the same period last year. The launch of Online Agent Valuation towards the end of 2025 helps connect…
Read More
Breaking News

Worst areas for landlord eviction waiting times

The latest research industry insight from LegalforLandlords has highlighted where the longest and shortest wait times are when it comes to court hearing dates for landlords who are trying to repossess their properties, with the most overstretched courts found in the likes of Birmingham, Croydon, and Slough. Having analysed internal data on wait times for…
Read More
Breaking News

726,000 rented homes could remain non-decent by 2035

And that’s without holding them to the updated standard outlined in the recent DHS consultation A new consultation on the Decent Homes Standard (DHS) has suggested that all rented homes, private and social, must meet an updated, more stringent standard by 2035. However, new research from Inventory Base reveals that if the current rate of…
Read More
Breaking News

UK House Price Index for December 2025

The latest UK House Price Index shows that: The average monthly rate of house price growth in December was -0.7%. Average UK house price annual inflation was 2.4% in the 12 months to December 2025. As a result, the average UK house price currently sits at £270,000.   Here are some thoughts from the Industry.…
Read More
Cozy Pet Cat Tree Grey
Breaking News

10 things all tenants need to know when renting now

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27th October 2025 and will introduce major reforms to private renting in England. The first raft of measures affecting tenants will come into force on 1st May this year. So, whether you currently have a tenancy agreement or are planning to rent this year, here are…
Read More