More than 20 objections have been filed against a planning application by Foxtons to convert a former post office into a new branch.
West Hampsead council has received the complaints from local residents who say that the area would be “saturated” with estate agents.
According to one objection: “There cannot conceivably be any demand for yet another agent in West End Lane.”
Another says: “There is simply no need and no room for Foxtons – keep them out.”
The area is said to have 29 agents already, of which one independent has said that Foxtons is the wrong type of company for West Hampstead.
Comments (6)
The last time I looked estate agency was a free market. We see agents thriving in areas where Foxtons (and other high profile agents) operate.
That doesn't mean to say other agents shouldn't have a strategy in place to compete when a high-profile agent opens in their area, but that strategy should be in place irrespective. Get great reviews to Google, for instance. A new agent or office is going to find it hard to win every time competing with dozens of five star reviews going back years!
Eric makes a great point about Putney – last time I stood on the junction of the High Street and Upper Richmond Road I counted over a dozen agents (including Foxtons) in line of sight.
……..except in Woking where they seem to be a bit run of the mill – Jonnie
I quite like them / agree with Eric, they do raise fees and they do squeeze stuff onto the market (especially shortly after they open) that might not have done so, a fair number of which either get sold to your vendors and complete chains or they find out they don't like them after all and switch to you. I recommend every estate agent / town has a Foxtons in it. – Jonnie
There is also 26 offices in the high street where we are represented…The town would be super dead with a whole high street of empty shops and buildings if the agents didn't have offices there. The butchers, bakers, greengrocers, fishmongers, stationers, travel agents have all gone….Plenty of Indians and other takeaways. What exactly do the objectors want instead….surely not a post office !!!!
Having been in several areas where Foxtons have opened new offices, I really don't see it as a bad thing. Yes, they will take some market share especially from less proactive agents, but they have the unmentioned benefit of raising average fees. Frankly, you can't ring-fence a market and once Foxtons arrive, few agents are likely to try and muscle in in the future. As for too many agents, have you been to Putney? The comment they are wrong type of agent is hard to understand. Why is West Hampstead any different from Blackheath Village, or Dulwich? Our attitude with the announcement of a new Foxtons office was simple – bring it on.
If the area is so saturated, I'm sure they will open and fail…wont they?
Its not unusual to see Estate Agency offices well into double figures in any local operating area. In mine we have an average of 26.
I would love to set up a little monopoly and agree who could open and what fees all would charge but, in the real world, the market economy is a free one. If the public see Foxtons as the best service provider, they will use them. In realty, this article is more about the concerns of the agents currently trading than it is Foxtons. Sounds like they need to man up!