Acquisitions
‘Online agency sector facing acquisitions and mergers’ despite the millions spent
Online sector will shake out over next few years – forecast
News
Politics
Government confirms new UK registry of foreign property owners will be created
New register set up to tackle corruption will be first in the world
Law
Landlords warn that tenant deposit cap ‘will create charter for rent cheats’
RLA calls for proposed six-week deposit cap to be increased to eight in Draft Tenant Fees Bill
Law
Woss goin’ on then? EastEnders never ‘eard of tenancy deposit protection?
Long-running soap highlights tenancy deposit issues
Finance
Barclays raises the amount first-time buyers can borrow – despite Bank of England warning
First-time buyers will be able to borrow almost four-and-a-half times annual earnings
Acquisitions
Nine-branch firm acquires smaller competitor to take rental portfolio to over 2,500 properties
London agent acquires two-branch independent
Tech
Ask Ami! Energy supplier Spark launches chatbot to tackle simple customer service needs
Automated assistant will free up Spark's customer service team to deal with more complex issues
Agency
Debt-ridden Countrywide insists it will re-set itself after disastrous retail strategy
Cost of redundancies in last two years is around £16m
Compliance
GDPR: Don’t let anyone scare the living daylights out of you
Don't listen to the scaremongers – but don't be complacent either, says our compliance expert
Other News
Property sales bounce back in all but one UK region as first-time buyers replace investors
Scotland is the only part of the UK to see a fall in transactions during February
Finance
OnTheMarket share price sinks over 8% as volatility hits agents
Reasons for drop in OnTheMarket share prices not clear
Finance
Government unveils £300m housing package for UK regions
Authorities in Greater Manchester, Oxfordshire and the West of England get support for more housebuilding
Charity
Agents Giving launches fund to support charitable work
Agents can fund the set-up costs of their charitable events with a grant
Other News
Fancy a Jaguar F Type for just £20? Estate agent comes up with novel way to sell his sports car
The same agent sold his Porsche in a raffle six months ago
Agency
Advertising watchdog throws out complaint that allAgents solicits ‘bad reviews’ of Purplebricks
Meanwhile Purplebricks announces over 40,000 Trustpilot reviews with an almost perfect rating
Other News
The end: Final curtain for CIELA as founder blames industry for being at war with itself
The end for aspirant trade body CIELA as it abandons all hope of being able to unite 'an industry at war with itself'
Agency
Agent jailed after faking bank account in vendor’s name confirmed as working for Knight Frank
Knight Frank says it co-operated with authorities after employee's fraud
Agency
Agent’s use of phone number where it had no office leads to complaint
Three more agents in complaints to advertising watchdog
Agency
Property transactions slide again, but are the public to blame for not taking agent pricing advice?
Land Registry figures show sales continue to decline and price growth is now slowing
Finance
Purplebricks shares fall below the £3 mark – but why?
Volatile day on stock market for Purplebricks