BREAKING NEWS – top 5 stories 13/04/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

STEPHEN MURPHY NAMED AS NEW CHAIR OF BOOMIN

The C-suite of Boomin looks like it has gained a major coup with the appointment of Stephen Murphy (Ex-CEO Virgin), and there is also news of a £25M funding round. Both of these factors clearly show that Boomin is very much in it for the long haul, all which comes less than a fortnight after their official launch on the 2nd of April.

THOUGH OFFICIALLY THE UK ECONOMY HAS SHRUNK – HOUSING STILL GOING STRONG

Economic indicators given by the Office for National Statistics show that the economy shrank by nearly 8% comparing February 2020 to February 2021. Clearly not a good headline figure. The property market though is of course at present bucking that trend.

LONDON SUPER PRIME MARKET ROARS AHEAD IN IT IS OFFICIAL

Recent statistics show that despite the pandemic, lockdown, the inability for non-domiciles to fly into the UK to buy, London still led the world in the number of properties sold above the £7M price tag.

With just over 200 of such sales, it outpaced Hong Kong which only managed around 170 sales. The big question will be in 2021 which way will this market perform? Many pundits feel that the super-rich, have not really been touched by the pandemic, and with many in tech related verticals they are personally seeing a boom time in their earnings and ability to buy big ticket items.

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE IN MARCH HITS NEW HIGH OF £254,606

Figures just released show that the average house increased again by over 1% in March, which now means that on average a typical property is worth over a quarter of a million pounds.

FEWER RENTAL PROPERTIES CHANGED HANDS IN 2020

Unsurprisingly, 2020 was a record year for the fewest number of rental properties sold, clearly the lockdowns, rent arrears and lack of court action effectively meant that even if some landlords wished to sell their inventory 2020 was not the year.

Records show that around 130,000 rental properties got sold last year, the lowest number for eight years. Though of course with rising rents maybe some landlords are thinking that holding on may be a better gambit than selling and paying the tax if the exit the market.

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

Breaking Property News 5/5/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   New AI Real Estate Market Intelligence Platform Launches in the U.S.   Press Release – New York, May 2026 — Rodland Real Estate, a leading independent brokerage headquartered in The Bahamas, has announced the U.S. launch of RoRo, an advanced AI-powered real estate market intelligence…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage affordability at tightest level since 2008

UK Finance has today published a new Lending Where We Live report, revealing sharp differences in mortgage affordability and buy‑to‑let returns across the UK. Key findings 723,000 house purchase mortgages advanced in 2025, up 17 per cent year-on-year Average borrower spends 21.3 per cent of gross income on repayments Significant regional differences: North Norfolk and Hillingdon top the list with borrowers spending over 25 per cent of gross income Seven…
Read More
Breaking News

Did landlords frontload rent hikes ahead of the RRA?

The latest insight from Inventory Base suggests that, despite the incoming Renters’ Rights Act limiting rent increases to once per year, only around a quarter of landlords appeared to pre-empt the change by front-loading rent rises ahead of the 1st May deadline. This comes amid wider policy uncertainty in the rental sector, with the UK…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove to host live Q&A webinar on the Renters’ Rights Act

Rightmove is hosting a live Q&A webinar today to help agents better understand the Renters’ Rights Act and its practical implications as the Act takes effect. The Renters’ Rights Act: Live Q&A webinar will take place on Tuesday 5th May from 10:00am to 11:00am and will be available to watch via the Rightmove Hub. Over…
Read More
Home and Living

War over bin blunders as legal expert reveals what you can actually do

Rows over rubbish are bubbling up, with fed-up homeowners losing patience over neighbours who refuse to bring their bins back in. Now, a legal expert has revealed the simple steps you can take before things spiral into a full-blown neighbourhood feud. Natalie Peacock of Rogers and Norton explained that while it might be tempting to…
Read More
Breaking News

The UK’s best place to be a buy-to-let landlord in 2026 – and it isn’t London

Manchester tops the list with an average property price below the UK average and an annual rental return of 6.4%, beating all 32 London boroughs. Newcastle upon Tyne ranks second and is the only area in the study to deliver an annual return of more than 7%, while Blackpool places third. New research ranks 310…
Read More