WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP – 19/05/2023

A roundup of the week’s top property and proptech news stories in partnership with Proptech-X

 

Purplebricks – failure of a one-trick pony

Purplebricks was a victim of the post SVB financial landscape, akin to the Dotcom bust of the 2000’s where we live in a world where the cash has been turned off, where new investment and continued investment into Technology and Proptech ventures has evaporated. Where VC rounds have diminished in number and value, banks failed and liquidity became problematic.

The hidden reason for Purplebricks failure is set out in its announcement of May 17th, 2023, its, ‘Proposed sale of business and assets to transfer of substantially all of its trading business and assets to Strike … (other than certain excluded assets) through its subsidiary Strike Bidco Limited (the “Purchaser”) for a consideration of £1’.

The most interesting details in the announcement are the words,

‘The Board did not consider the other potential offers provided either sufficient certainty or would be deliverable in the timeframe needed to resolve the Group’s short term funding issues arising from the agreement with its pay later financing provider being close to expiry and the Company’s cash balance declining’.

Read the article in full

 

New 4Corners research shows mortgage advisors lower house sales falling through

A central problem for estate agents is the third of agreed sales failing to get to exchange, Phil Priest Sales Director of 4Corners Property, reveals brokers might be the answer.

Phil and his team spend all their time trying to help all the stakeholders in the home buying and selling process, and are using their data insights to find the true trends that few know about. He explains,

‘Estate agents are the ones affected by sales falling through more than anyone else as they do not charge any upfront fees, so why are they so slow in adopting a process which can secure 100% of sales?

Our study shows that our fall through rates with buyers and sellers is zero when the 4Moving Pack (Searches) are purchased by the buyer at the point of the offer being accepted and half the time to completion, so why the slowness in adopting this?

Read the article in full

 

New Home Builders Implementing Customer Identity Standards with a UPRN

In my day job as CEO and Founder of Proptech-PR ‘A consultancy for Proptech Founders’ we come across and get involved with and support many iniatives, for many years we have been big advocates for resolving the need to sort out the tangled and imperfect infrastucture around the ID and AML, across all the verticals in real estate. And we know that Stuart Young has been making herculean efforts, to make this a reality. Here is the latest from Stuart CEO and Founder of Etive Technologies.

‘The Home Builders Federation (HBF) and Etive are pleased to see the variety of members are starting to implement the new customer identity verification (IDV) and anti-money laundering (AML) standards, either on their own or with the assistance of their panel conveyancers and brokers.

The MyIdentity Overlay Scheme has developed additional rules on top of those already in the DIATF to better meet the specific customer service and business needs of new home builders.

Read the article in full

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

First-Time Buyers Prioritising ‘Forever Homes’

A third of first-time buyer purchases are semi-detached properties, as young people turn to ‘forever homes’   Barclays mortgage data shows semi-detached properties rose in popularity in August, accounting for 33.5 per cent of first-time buyer purchases Four in 10 Barclays first-time buyer customers chose mortgages allowing them to complete their repayments over a 30+…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Closing the gap on client relationships and recommendations

New research from iamproperty has highlighted the growing disconnect between what buyers and sellers want from their agent and what they experience, which could be killing recommendations from happy clients. iamproperty’s quarterly consumer survey revealed that only a third of respondents (32%)¹ would recommend their agent following their experience. With many agents relying on recommendations…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Northern Ireland to expect over 25,000 new home movers

Belfast-based estate agency John Minnis has revealed that Northern Ireland is to welcome an estimated 25,000- 30,000 new arrivals from the UK and Europe over the next five years, as migration to the region reaches its highest levels in more than a decade. Recent figures show that 11,700 people relocated from other parts of the…
Read More
Breaking News

Red tape and rising costs stifling new-build availability across the capital

The latest analysis from London estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed how protracted building timelines are preventing the capital’s housebuilders from delivering the level of new-build housing stock required to meet demand, with new homes currently accounting for just 7.5% of all properties listed for sale across London. Benham and Reeves analysed the latest…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

UK’s new wave of ‘second cities’ offers strongest yield growth for property investors

The latest research from West One Loans has found that whilst investors may continue to favour the nation’s key cities such as London, Birmingham, and Manchester, a new wave of ‘second cities’ is delivering the strongest growth in rental yields. These emerging markets are offering investors the chance to achieve attractive returns, driven by rising…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Decline in change of use further constricting housing supply

Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Octane Capital, believes that a decline in conversion projects could ultimately prevent the Government from hitting its ambitious housing delivery targets, as the firm’s latest analysis has revealed that the number of homes created through change of use has fallen sharply in the last five years. Octane Capital analysed official Government…
Read More