BREAKING PROPERTY NEWS – 25/05/2022

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.

 

As instructions drop by 31%, is this Purplebricks’ swansong?

Purplebricks has always been a cash cow. Its upfront payment business model always meant that its coffers were full of cash as soon as vendors listed their properties, sale or no sale. A great model, apart from the fact they only ever made a profit once in all of their trading life and that was a tiny profit mostly made from the one-off sale of their assets overseas.

Now though, this payment model is biting them deeply on their purple behind, as the volume of vendors who listed with them last year was 31% less than the previous year. Listing only 40,141 properties against 58,043 the previous year, it’s no wonder Vic Darvey was keen to move on and let the incumbent CEO Helena Marston explain this to the shareholders later in the year.

In figures, Purplebricks will do around £70 million, making a loss in excess of £8 million, but its biggest problem is the cash at bank figure which is likely to be around £43 million. This sounds like a big enough war chest to get the company out of trouble, but with the share price dropping 25% since January 2022, and trading at just 17.8p on the AIM, plus a possible class action looming and a multi-million provision needed to cover their lettings deposits debacle, might this be the tipping point for Purplebricks?

Looking at the next year, these are Helena Marston’s big problems:

Fewer homes will be sold, so Purplebricks needs to get a bigger slice of a reducing pie. Land Registry is already showing that year on year for March, completions are down by 13%, so sales volumes and instruction volumes are ticking downward.

The Purplebricks model is inextricably linked to a cash upfront, and it had the advantage when it first launched that it was a cheap option, now with raised fees it is in some areas on a par with traditional agents.

It has moved to a PAYE model, which means extra costs and liabilities, and though it does not have physical offices, the cost of TV and other advertising is probably on a monthly basis somewhere near these costs. So what was seen as an agile model, dump staff and branch costs, is in fact a fallacy.

The threatened class action and all the fallout and negative press can really damage a business, as reputation is paramount and the public are fickle, they tend to swerve businesses that are perceived to be unfair to their workers.

Helena Marston’s biggest problem as she captains and steers the ship is the fact she has zero experience of selling property or letting property. Significantly, Countrywide PLC appointed a certain Alison Platt as CEO in 2014, also with zero experience, at that time the UK’s largest estate agency group.

Four years later, Platt resigned after two profit warnings in three months and the share price had been driven through the floor. That company limped along like a wounded dinosaur until its assets were picked up by an enterprise that turned them around in 18 months.

Because they had a management board packed with experienced property practitioners whose DNA was estate agency, Connells Group is now the most profitable and largest agent in the UK. Experience counts.

Experimentation and inexperience is a risky strategy when a company has little cash to spend and is possibly facing a substantial multimillion legal battle. I hope Helena knows what she signed up to.

 

TDS appoints Nathan Emerson of Propertymark

The Dispute Service (TDS) is delighted to announce the appointment of Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, to the Board of TDS.

As the CEO of Propertymark, Nathan is keen to further the shared values of professional standards in the industry and to continue ensuring that Propertymark members’ interests are well represented.

“Propertymark was one of the founders of TDS in 2003 along with RICS and has been continuously represented on the Board ever since.  Nathan replaces Mark Hayward who has now retired, and I am delighted Nathan has joined the TDS Board to further strengthen the long-standing partnership between us.” said Steve Harriott, CEO of TDS.

Nathan commented: “I am really pleased to take my place on what is a very active and forward-thinking Board at TDS. I want to be able to champion the interests of agents whilst supporting the Board to deliver its strategy and achieving its goals.”

TDS is a key supplier to the private rental sector, operating tenancy deposit schemes across the UK with over £2 billion of deposits protected.

TDS was originally set up in 2003 by ARLA and RICS as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, to operate a voluntary tenancy deposit scheme on behalf of ARLA and RICS lettings agents. One key element of the relationship is that TDS is able to offer Propertymark and RICS preferential deposit protection rates through the links with the two founder organisations; a key benefit for Propertymark and RICS agents.

TDS also operates the Tenancy Redress Service, TDS Resolution, TDS Northern Ireland, SafeDeposits Scotland, and has recently been selected as the New Homes Ombudsman.

TDS protects c1.8m deposits across the UK [at a value of £2bn] and deals with 21,000 tenancy deposit disputes a year.. It has established two charitable arms [TDS Charitable Foundation and SafeDeposits Charitable Trust], which distribute grants aimed at raising standards in the private rented sector.

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

The best garden improvements to boost the value of your home this summer

The latest market insight from Yopa, the full-service estate agents, has revealed which garden features make the most worthwhile project for homebuyers this summer, based on the actual value they add to a home once the cost of implementing them has been accounted for, with some adding as much as £8,000 to the value of…
Read More
Breaking News

South West Named Top Haven for Over-50s Downsizers

New Research Reveals Prime Destinations for Older Movers Seeking Community, Lifestyle, and Affordability The South West of England has officially become the UK’s top destination for over-50s looking to downsize, according to new research by over-50s property specialists Regency Living. With nearly half the population aged 50 or over (43.0%), the region leads the country…
Read More
Breaking News

Modern industrial strategy to modernise Britain

The Government’s ‘Industrial Strategy’ has been released, alongside its 10-year plan to increase business investment across eight growth-driving sectors significantly. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “Construction will build the premises that businesses need, deliver the homes which stop brain drain, and ensure the infrastructure, such as transport or…
Read More
Breaking News

As few as 22% of HMOs have a usable garden

With the summer here and the weather well and truly hotting up, new insight from COHO, the HMO management platform, reveals where in England you’ve got the best chance of finding a shared house with a usable garden. And just for good measure, they’ve also worked out where the most pet friendly and car friendly…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing Ombudsman’s report demonstrates necessity of vibrant and growing private rental sector

Following a recent report from the Housing Ombudsman titled ‘Spotlight Report: Repairing Trust’, which revealed that 2024/25 witnessed a 474 per cent surge in complaints about poor living conditions compared to 2019/20, Propertymark has stated that this demonstrates the necessity for a vibrant and growing private rental sector. Referencing the UK Government’s ambition to construct…
Read More
Breaking News

Inheritance Tax Receipts raise £1.5 billion in two months

Inheritance tax receipts hit £1.5 billion in the first two months of the current tax year, according to data released by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this morning. This is £98 million higher than the previous tax year, and continues an upward trend over the last two decades. Nicholas Hyett, Investment Manager at Wealth Club…
Read More