It’s been another hectic week for the industry, here is what has caught our eye.
First: Bricks
First it was the lack of new homes, then it was the greedy landlords keeping house prices high.
Now, according to the NAEA, it may be the number of bricks.
A report by the NAEA with the Centre for Economic and Business Research, claimed a shortage of bricks could lead to a “lifetime” of high house prices and falling levels of home ownership.
The organisation said that the UK needs 1.4bn bricks in order to resolve the housing shortage.
That is the equivalent of the total amount which would be needed to build all the houses currently in Leicestershire.
However, the NAEA claims that Brexit could worsen the issue, because 85% of clay and cement comes to Britain from the EU.
EYE readers were not impressed.
NewsBoy said: “Oh come on please! Let me guess there is also a lack of sand in North Africa. 99% of BMWs, Fiats and Porsches seem to arrive from Europe as well but I don’t see any lack of supply.
“Sorry. This is a silly season, non-story.
“The reason that there is a brick shortage is the builders don’t need them as much as they did since they are now going to be building 8% less homes over the next few years.”
Robert May added: “Nothing to do with mothballing all the brick manufacturing facilities in 2008 when the builders stopped building houses and then realising that recommissioning them, increasing supply and bringing down the price of bricks made no sense at all.
“Dear Board of directors, I propose we spend a shed load of cash re-employing staff we laid off, repairing and reinstating infrastructure just so we can charge less for bricks.”
Second: CMP
Client Money Protection is back on the Government’s agenda.
The Government has launched a review into Client Money Protection and whether it should be made mandatory for letting agents.
Depending on the responses, mandatory CMP could be added into the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
The review estimates that 60% to 80% of agents voluntarily have CMP.
However, the consultation document from the Department for Communities and Local Government makes it clear that the Government is less than lukewarm about making CMP mandatory, claiming it feels the balance of regulations was about right.
The Property Ombudsman is sounding out member’s views on CMP with a survey in collaboration with Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town, who is chairing a DCLG review with Lord Palmer of Childs Hill.
Drasperger said: “Will this be another well intentioned legislative requirement that will not be policed?
“I guess it will fall on trading standards to ensure that all letting agents have CMP? I can think of at least five agents in my town who would simply say that they have it, and carry on trading without it. If all agents were licensed, and CMP was a condition, then the industry could police itself?”
Third: Target practice
Do targets help motivate agents? That is the latest debate being hotly discussed on The Arena forum.
One user, htsnom79 said: “Targets are fine if you trust the setter of those targets and importantly respect them. Have done a bit of corporate in Essex.
“We were advised that on a monthly basis we would have the use of a sports car, had to hit all KPI or you were out.
“Targets set by people who don’t get the people they are setting targets for are worthless, haven’t worked for corporate since but am glad of the experience, have never worried about corporate competition since.”
PeeBee added: “The person who sets the “targets” should have a target of their own – to aim to motivate staff to perform at their peak through encouragement and example.”
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