The number of estate agents in four out of ten London boroughs has fallen this year, although the overall number in the capital is up very slightly.
The largest fall was in Barnet, where there were 125 agents at the start of the year and there are now 116 – a fall of 7.2%.
Other boroughs with falls include Bexley, Ealing, Greenwich, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond and Wandsworth.
But in some boroughs (Brent, Bromley and Newham) numbers have remained unchanged, with others seeing rises in estate agency numbers.
Most notable is Westminster, which started 2016 with 228 and ends the year with 241 – an astonishing rise from two years ago when there were 179.
Across all boroughs, the number of high street estate agents has increased this year by just 0.5% to a total close to 2,900. Westminster alone has 8.3% of all agent offices in London, and more than a third of boroughs now have more than 100 high street agents each.
HouseSimple figures reveal that Barking & Dagenham and Southwark have both seen the number of high street agents rise by 10.7% this year.
Meanwhile Barnet has seen estate agency numbers fall by 7.2% and Richmond has seen the number of offices fall by 5.9%.
The table looks at the number of estate agents in each London borough today, compared to the starts of 2016 and 2015. All the figures relate to sales agents only and were taken from Rightmove, with analysis by online agent HouseSimple.
Alex Gosling of HouseSimple said: “After a strong start to 2016, the market has cooled.
“Established high street agents might be able to absorb a slowdown in sales, but for the opportunist agents who open to take advantage of a booming market, they quite often disappear from the high street as quickly as they arrive.”
| London Borough | Number of agents in borough – start of 2015 | Number of agents in borough – start of 2016 | Number of agents in borough – end of 2016 | % rise/(fall) in agents since start of this year |
| Barking & Dagenham | 25 | 28 | 31 | 10.7 |
| Barnet | 122 | 125 | 116 | -7.2 |
| Bexley | 52 | 55 | 52 | -5.5 |
| Brent | 60 | 64 | 64 | 0.0 |
| Bromley | 110 | 116 | 116 | 0.0 |
| Camden | 109 | 120 | 127 | 5.8 |
| Croydon | 98 | 103 | 108 | 4.9 |
| Ealing | 87 | 91 | 88 | -3.3 |
| Enfield | 92 | 86 | 88 | 2.3 |
| Greenwich | 64 | 70 | 67 | -4.3 |
| Hackney | 65 | 74 | 75 | 1.4 |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 82 | 95 | 90 | -5.3 |
| Haringey | 58 | 61 | 60 | -1.6 |
| Harrow | 67 | 67 | 68 | 1.5 |
| Havering | 53 | 56 | 57 | 1.8 |
| Hillingdon | 69 | 73 | 69 | -5.5 |
| Hounslow | 59 | 65 | 62 | -4.6 |
| Islington | 88 | 111 | 112 | 0.9 |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 127 | 137 | 135 | -1.5 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 58 | 64 | 62 | -3.1 |
| Lambeth | 79 | 85 | 91 | 7.1 |
| Lewisham | 71 | 79 | 82 | 3.8 |
| Merton | 62 | 64 | 65 | 1.6 |
| Newham | 74 | 76 | 76 | 0.0 |
| Redbridge | 77 | 77 | 80 | 3.9 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 91 | 101 | 95 | -5.9 |
| Southwark | 92 | 103 | 114 | 10.7 |
| Sutton | 46 | 50 | 49 | -2.0 |
| Tower Hamlets | 131 | 135 | 136 | 0.7 |
| Waltham Forest | 61 | 62 | 67 | 8.1 |
| Wandsworth | 153 | 160 | 151 | -5.6 |
| Westminster | 179 | 228 | 241 | 5.7 |
| TOTAL | 2,661 |
2,881
|
2,894 | 0.5 |
Not sure if we can rely on ‘HouseSimple’s research’ about Estate Agents or the data from Rightmove. I do however agree, Estate Agents in London are in decline, the bedroom agents to the large chains (think Jacksons Estate Agents/Countrywide) are all dropping like flies. I think a more telling research is into how many ‘online agents’ will disappear into obscurity next year. Already I’m losing track of the 100s maybe 1000s out there starting to implode due to a tougher markets.
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Supply and demand. Far too many so called agents thinks its easy money and many of them had never been in the industry before opening. I expect the closures will continue in 2017. Its going to get tougher.
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Not a bad thing per se. Too many agents for too small a cake.
Then we just need to remove 90% of the coffee shops and 90% of the charity shops, close the out of centre retail parks, sort out Brexit, re-stimulate the economy, and – voila! Rejuvinated, vibrant, useful, High Streets across the country. Simples!
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The research above implies that London agents are on the rise.
London is booming, especially lettings where all the money is. The agents that are supplying holiday lets (be it in very small numbers) are making a killing.
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The research is a bit misleading. A lot of the cheap, underground, dodgy, bedroom type one-man agents will only use Zoopla and not Rightmove as the main choice in London, because it’s cheaper. Using both may not be economically viable for these small agents, with Rightmoves’ ridiculously expensive subscription fees. The data by Rightmove is not complete. The actual reality is that there is a lot of closures. 2017 will probably get worse.
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