Proptech commentators Eddie Holmes and James Dearsley said yesterday that if the Guild and Fine & Country sign up 500 agents to easyProperty, it would be a “fantastic result”.

The pair – deeply critical of the deal last week – said it would immediately offer the potential for the “most scale in terms of distribution than any other agent, excluding Purplebricks. They would be a worthy competitor to Purplebricks in that instance”.

However, the pair said it would expect that out of 500 expressions of interest, only 33% would convert to licences actually bought.

This would mean that 165 GPEA agents had acquired the £500 monthly licenses – but, the pair said: “A good place to start for sure.”

The pair also said that being labelled ‘naysayers’ by new easyProperty boss Jon Cooke “missed the point”.

They said the Guild was putting out positive messages, but leaving issues unaddressed.

They asked whether easyProperty’s technology provided a “compelling end-user experience”, saying this was undoubtedly the key to success, and asking: “What is different in the new proposition to the old proposition, from the consumer’s point of view?”

Holmes and Dearsley drew comparison with OnTheMarket, where it said: “A small budget combined with a non-compelling end user experience has failed to challenge the big boys.”