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Proptech giants join forces to offer agents free tenant pre-screening
Two of the UK’s leading proptech firms Teclet and Canopy have joined forces to offer letting agents a free tenant pre-screening service that, it is claimed, lowers on-boarding costs for agents and...
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‘Welsh Stamp Duty holiday pointless until occupied house viewings allowed’
Welsh Fine & Country agents have given the nation’s recently-announced Stamp Duty holiday for home buyers a distinctly unenthusiastic thumbs-up, claiming it’s pointless until the Welsh government...
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Hybrid estate agency wins significant new funding from investors
Two years after being launched hybrid London estate agency Agent & Homes has secured a significant new injection of cash from investors during an fund-raising round that was over-subscribed just...
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Here it is! First draft of industry-wide Code of Practice revealed
The first draft of the looming mandatory Code of Practice has been revealed this morning by its steering group, giving agents the first opportunity to see what they may soon have to adhere to in order...
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COVID has accelerated home buying digitisation ‘by ten years’
The COVID crisis has accelerated the modernisation of the home buying process by ten years, a leading online auction house has claimed, and hastened the decline of the ‘ballroom’ auction. Iamsold.com...
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Follow Rollo? Why the UK will soon turn to the US brokerage model
Agent & Homes is the latest estate agency to reject traditional practices and embrace a hub-based, self-employed model. But why is the company – and its millionaire private backers – so confident...
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Housesimple rebrands as ‘Strike’ as it goes mobile and expands free model
Hybrid estate agency Housesimple has changed its name to Strike as it doubles the geographic area where its free-to-sell model is available, now covering Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Sunderland. The...
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Propertymark declines to reveal how much its ‘misdefinition’ VAT cheque cost
Propertymark has declined to comment on how much it paid HMRC last year after it was discovered that it significantly under-paid VAT through a ‘mis-definition’ of its liabilities and exemptions over...
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Huge shake-up of leasehold proposed by Law Commission
Estate agents face major changes to the way leasehold properties are described, managed and sold following the publication this morning of radical proposals by the Law Commission, whose job it is to...
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HMRC confirms 2% Stamp Duty surcharge for non-residents
HMRC has confirmed its plans to add a further 2% Stamp Duty to properties bought by foreigners following a six-month consultation on the proposal, and has published the draft legislation. It says many...
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Countrywide begins search for new CEO, reports Sky News
Countrywide chairman Peter Long is to step back from his role as executive chairman at Countrywide to make way for a new CEO, Sky News reported last night. The 68-year-old has been running the...
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MPs accuse estate agents of being ‘de-facto enablers of the Russian state’
MPs have accused estate agents of being a ‘de-facto’ part of the Russian state in a shocking report published yesterday. The comments are made within the highly anticipated report into Russian...
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Purplebricks in trouble over fees claims on its own website
Purplebricks has had its corporate knuckles rapped once more by the advertising standards watchdog the ASA after a complaint about an advert on its own website. The hybrid agency has been contacted by...
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Michael Bruce’s ‘Boomin’ LaunchB property project revealed
Birmingham-based LaunchB today has revealed the brand name of its new venture, which promises to transform the property market in a way which, the limited details published today suggest, sound...
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Shares tipster gives Purplebricks tepid review ahead of its full-year results.
A leading shares tipster at The Times newspaper has given Purplebricks a ‘hold’ rating, recommending that investors neither sell nor buy the company’s stock. This less than ringing endorsement for the...
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Estate agents face more AML costs as HMRC seeks £100m industry contribution
Estate agents face further cost next year if HMRC decides to implement an ‘economic crime levy’ on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulated firms within the property industry. The details have been...
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Minister rejects evictions ban extension and heralds new ‘pre-action’ rules
Housing minister Christopher Pincher (pictured, above) has swept aside calls in parliament to extend the evictions ban and said that new pre-action rules introduced on Friday will be sufficient ahead...
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Guest blog: Who should take on the job to lead Countrywide?
If as Sky News has suggested Peter Long is being replaced, that means Countrywide is likely to need a new chairman, who will be responsible for protecting investors’ interests, such as the company’s...
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Martin & Co parent group TPFG resumes dividends despite Covid
The Property Franchise Group (TPFG), which operates six agency brands including Martin & Co and Ewemove, is to resume paying dividends to shareholders, its new CEO Gareth Samples (above) has...
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Why the 2% Stamp Duty hike for non-residents is not clever, says Trevor
Last week the government confirmed that it would be moving forward with its proposal to tax non-resident home buyers an extra 2% in Stamp Duty to purchase property in England and Northern Ireland....
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