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Em Morley

Most common neighbourly disputes revealed

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 3:30 pm

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Findings from a new report has revealed that many Britons do not fully understand their right to object to developments of their neighbours’ homes. As a result, this leads to thousands of disputes every year.

Disagreements

According to a questionnaire of 2,000 homeowners from property law specialists Slater and Gordon, the most common disputes between neighbours were over removing or repairing a fence (37%), arguments over boundaries (33%), chopping down trees (30%) and building an extension (18%.)[1]

10% of respondents also said that they had experienced a disagreement with a neighbor over painting the outside of their property.[1]

Alarmingly, 81% of people questioned said they are not completely aware of their legal rights to question changes. Nearly half said they would want to complain to their local council and 10% said that they would take legal action if they were not properly consulted about an alteration to a neighbouring home.[1]

Plans

On the other hand, one in ten people said they would not even talk to their neighbor before making a change to their own property. When questioned, 48% said that difficult property language put them off discussing changes, with 54% unsure over the legal process should a challenge arise. 47% said that they did not know who to talk to if they were unhappy.[1]

Head of Residential Property at Slater and Gordon, Samantha Blackburn, said, ‘I’m not surprised that so many people don’t know what to do if they are unhappy about changes their neighbours are making to their home.’[1]

‘It’s always preferable to be able to resolve minor issues, such as replacing a fence or cutting down a tree, informally. However, when it comes to major changes to a neighbouring home, or disputes over boundaries, it may be necessary to contact your local authority and in some cases take legal advice,’ she continued.[1]

Blackburn went on to say,’ however, when it comes to major changes to a neighbouring home, or disputes over boundaries, it may be necessary to contact your local authority and in some cases take legal advice.’[1]

Expectations

In addition, the research revealed that 19% of homeowners expect their neighbours to talk with them over a new garden structure, such as a shed or a greenhouse. 60% said they expected contact over plants or trees that overgrew the boundary between homes.[1]

Concerns were expressed about neighbouring building projects blocking out the light into gardens and homes, with nearly two-thirds of people asked saying that this was their primary concer. Five in eight people said that they would expect at least a conversation over issues that could affect their boundaries, with 43% saying that they would like to discuss access rights for their own home.[1]

The biggest priority for a huge 94% of people however was simply to get on with their neighbours. With this said, only 25% said that they consider their neighbour a friend.[1]

Most common neighbourly disputes revealed

Most common neighbourly disputes revealed

Blackburn commented that, ‘the best way to resolve issues between neighbours is to try to avoid having them in the first place so I always advise my clients to be friendly and respectful towards their neighbours.’ [1]

‘Of course in some cases, such as with fences, overhanging trees, shared gardens or rights of access, homeowners will need to speak to one another about how to rectify certain problems. In my experience as a property lawyer, I have found the best way forward in these situations is to keep the channels of communication open. However, if neighbours cannot agree on how to resolve these issues it may be necessary to take legal advice,’ she continued.[1]

Advice

Additionally, Blackburn said that, ‘many homeowners still don’t know much about their rights when it comes to opposing local development or even their neighbour’s plans to add to or alter their homes.  would advise anyone concerned about any of these issues to contact their local authority in the first instance and ask for advice from a planning perspective. Often it’s as simple as lodging your opposition and outlining the reasons for this. It won’t always stop the change, but you can take the opportunity to ask your local authority for further information about what is planned, timescales and whether the change will be discussed at an upcoming council meeting.’[1]

Concluding, Blackburn stated, ‘I would also advise that they liaise with their lawyer who should be able to do some research and look at the title to the neighbouring property and see if there is anything in those title documents that means the proposed alteration needed consent from anyone before it took place.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/fences-and-extensions-1-in-3-bickers-with-neighbours-over-property.html

 

 

Finance Experts Talk Property Portals

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 2:54 pm

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Finance experts have tackled the property portal world, after Rightmove announced record-breaking results earlier this week.

Read more about Rightmove’s success here: /rightmove-announces-record-results-to-the-city/

Rightmove’s results were higher than all broker expectations, with a 75.5% profit margin, 82% market share and growth of 2% in agent members.

In the Financial Times, Henry Mance writes: “Have estate agents shot themselves in the foot?

“Their launch of OnTheMarket [OTM] was meant to break the cosy duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla that dominates Britain’s market for online property ads. In fact, it may inadvertently be turning a duopoly into a monopoly.

Finance Experts Talk Property Portals

Finance Experts Talk Property Portals

“[Rightmove] now has 50% more listings than Zoopla. Its shares, already at skyscraper heights, added a storey.”

He continues: “There may be a lesson here about first-move advantage: Rightmove grew steadily, before Zoopla was assembled from a jumble of assets by Ferrari-driving entrepreneur, Alex Chesterman.

“More broadly, recent history suggests it is hard to topple an internet business based on network effects, by trying to offer virtually the same thing. Just ask Microsoft how its search engine Bing is getting on against Google.

“OTM says it can still overtake Zoopla and then out-compete Rightmove on price. But if estate agents want to tackle Rightmove’s pricing, they either have to offer something completely different – a Snapchat to Rightmove’s Facebook – or wait for regulators to step in.

“Regulatory action, a distant prospect, becomes a tad more likely if Rightmove ends up a monopoly.”

Mance concludes: “Perhaps that is OTM’s real genius.”1

Business and finance newspaper, City A.M.’s Russell Quirk made some predictions regarding OTM’s future.

He believes that OTM will “fizzle out” before its first year, stating that it has “shouted from the rooftops” about its 5m visitors this month.

Quirk’s firm, eMoov, is one of the agents banned from OTM.

He says that OTM has not had a significant impact on the market, whereas Rightmove and Zoopla go from “strength to strength.”1 

Analysts have also given their opinions.

Finspreads’ Fiona Cincottaa says that Rightmove’s results indicate it “has not suffered the same fate as competition Zoopla, which in contrast has been negatively affected by the arrival of OTM.”1 

William Packer, of Exane BNP Paribas, claims that Rightmove is “gaining traffic share from Zoopla.”

He adds that in its post-results briefing to City analysts, Rightmove calculated that net membership movement from Zoopla has stopped, but it does not expect to witness any “rapid return” of OTM agents.

Packer has advised investors that there is “scope for Rightmove to expand their share of agent wallet.”1 

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/have-agents-shot-themselves-in-the-foot-over-otm-asks-financial-times/

Dubai Firm’s Collapse Worse Than Expected

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 1:55 pm

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Yesterday, we reported that an estate agent in Dubai has suddenly gone bust, leaving many British agents without jobs. Find the article here: /british-estate-agents-left-without-jobs-in-dubai/

Britons were recruited to work for the company and some have flown out with their families. The recruitment agencies have been left unpaid, similarly to the agents that only started work recently.

Now it has emerged that the collapse is worse than initially expected.

Dubai Firm's Collapse Worse Than Expected

Dubai Firm’s Collapse Worse Than Expected

According to newspaper Al Arabiya News, most of the staff that lost their jobs at Smith & Ken were British estate agents who had only been recruited recently.

They were attracted to the thought of a sunny lifestyle and tax-free earnings, despite the firm having extreme performance targets and its location in a tower block.

It now appears that the British agents were only headhunted because previous staff members had left the firm due to dissatisfaction over the company’s practices.

Al Arabiya News reported of the shock at the company’s closure, after it was believed that Smith & Ken was Dubai’s leading agent.

The British recruitment firms were also under the impression that the agency was well established, survived the recession and had won several awards.

The Al Arabiya story states: “Despite loud claims on its website to be the industry’s best agency, an online search for the company shows a plethora of complaints of dishonest agents and malpractices, and an overall low-level of service.”

The story claims that Smith & Ken operated in a flamboyant manner, including daily pep talks to the commission-seeking agents.

Around 80 people are believed to have lost their jobs at Smith & Ken.

It is also understood that the business was run remotely from Los Angeles.

One shocked former employee told Al Arabiya News that she received a phone call in the middle of the night from the office manager, telling them not to go to work the next morning, “because the company’s closed down.”

But the employee did go to the office, finding: “We went in the following day to pick up our passports, because the majority of the staff were new, people who had flown over from the UK.”1

After entering the office, the staff saw that the office had been emptied overnight.

However, Al Arabiya states that some of the agents have not been left without a job, as a rival firm in the same office block has snapped them up.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/disaster-for-british-estate-agents-and-families-in-dubai-firms-collapse/

 

 

Fraudster Steals at Property Viewing

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 12:51 pm

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A serial fraudster has stolen a bank card at a property viewing, after he tricked an estate agent into believing he was a doctor looking for a new house.

The 34-year-old criminal used a fake accent and dressed smartly for the scam.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court was told that Shiv Mohindra had seen the for sale sign outside the £299,000 semi-detached property on The Avenue, Basford, before booking the viewing.

After the family showed Mohindra around their home, he asked to use the toilet and used the opportunity to sneak into teenager Jacob Eardley’s bedroom, stealing his credit card and provisional driving license.

Mohindra’s crime was discovered when he tried to withdraw £400 from the Co-operative Bank on High Street, Newcastle. Staff noticed that his signature did not match that on the card and he failed to give the correct security details.

The fraudster has 134 offences on his record already, including 58 for fraud. He has now been jailed for three years after pleading guilty to burglary and fraud.

Laura Culley, prosecuting, said that Mohindra had created a fake identity so that he could view the property on 25th June 2014.

She told the court: “He had seen the house and decided to target it. He has extensive previous offences. It’s a consistent pattern of dishonesty.”1

The court also heard that Mohindra’s accomplice attempted to withdraw £70, but police were called and the pair was arrested.

Defending, Robert Smith said that the defendant’s plan was not as grand a scheme as it was made out to be.

He continued: “He struggles to give any reason as to why he committed this offence.

“There is something of Walter Mitty about how he behaved; the way he dressed, the affected accent, pretending to be a doctor.”1

Judge David Fletcher, sentencing Mohindra to three years in prison, said: “You are a thoroughly dishonest individual. On the day of this burglary, you masqueraded as another person to gain access to a family home.”1 

Mohindra’s victims have spoken of their relief after hearing of the sentence.

18-year-old Jacob, says: “I was shocked when I realised my card was missing.

“I was in bed when I got the call from the bank. They told me someone had come in with my cards. When we realised what had happened, it was hard to believe.

“I’m glad he’s behind bars.”1

Jacob’s mother, Sheila Eardley, says the incident has affected the family’s ability to trust visitors and they have decided not to sell the house.

She adds: “We were gobsmacked. It’s been unsettling; he’d been all over the house and we weren’t sure if he might come back.

“If he’s been sent by the estate agent, you’ve got no reason to suspect they’re not who they say they are. We had no reason to think he wasn’t who he was supposed to be. He was pretty convincing.”1

David Eardley, Sheila’s husband, was approached by Mohindra days before the viewing and was shocked to learn of the trick.

He explains: “He told me he was interested in buying the house. I told him to book an appointment with the estate agent.

“The only time he was left alone was when he went to the toilet. He’s clearly not very good at what he does. Either he really likes jail or he needs to change his profession.”1

1 http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Walter-Mitty-style-conman-claimed-doctor-stealing/story-27497590-detail/story.html

Ex-Countrywide boss attacks company

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 11:57 am

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The former chief executive of estate agent Countrywide has launched an attack on his old company following the publication of its half-year figures.

In these figures, it was revealed that Britain’s largest estate agency by revenue had recorded a 9% dip in half-year earnings. Countrywide blamed the uncertainty brought about by the general election as the largest reason for the drop.

Backwards

Previous chief executive of the firm Harry Hill took to Twitter to air his views on the findings: – ‘once upon a time Countrywide had about 10% of the UK home sales market. Now it appears to have less than half that and still going backwards,’ he tweeted.[1]

Over recent years, Mr Hill, founder of Rightmove, has been involved in the easyProperty online agency but resigned from the board last year. More recently, he has been affiliated with commercial property portal MoveHut and with conveyancing company In-Deed Online.

However, the current management at Countrywide has rebuffed Hill’s claims. Similarly, senior figures in the firm have not been concerned that the company’s share price dipped by around 6% yesterday.

Ex-Countrywide boss attacks company

Ex-Countrywide boss attacks company

Challenges

Alison Platt, current chief executive at Countrywide, said, ‘the first half of the year saw depressed activity in the UK residential sales market as UK consumers held back from making decisions pending the outcome of the most uncertain General Election in a generation. However, the benefits of our strategy to diversify the Group’s revenue streams were underlined by Countrywide’s ability to ride those challenges with 50 per cent of our profits derived from sources independent of the UK housing transaction market.’[1]

‘Particularly pleasing has been our ability to show resilience through a tough market and at the same time to make strong headway in implementing our Building our Future strategy. Our focus for the strategy is on growth and building a business which is bigger, because it is better,’ she added.[1]

More support came from Jeffrey’s, the financial analytical consultancy, who described them as short-term pain which will be worth it in the long term.

A report from Jeffrey’s stated, ‘the size of the prize is a target to double the size of the business by 2020.’[1]

‘The easy path would have been to run the Group for cash and tweak rather than revamp the strategy. However the Group believes that the UK residential market offers many exciting opportunities from increasing consumer estate agency and lettings market share to capitalizing on the opportunities in the institutional Private Rented Sector and B2B markets,’ the report added.[1]

[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/7/ex-countrywide-boss-says-agency-going-backwards

 

Unlikely Company Car for South Coast Agent

Published On: July 31, 2015 at 11:50 am

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Company cars can be an effective way to get your brand noticed – who hasn’t seen a Foxtons mini driving through London?

But Capital & Coastal, an agent on the south coast, has found what it considers the perfect company car for its business.

Despite not being branded, the three-wheeler is a hit with customers and the public recognise the Morgan 3 Wheeler when it’s out and about.

Director of Capital & Coastal, Michael Riley, has also fallen for this unlikely choice.

A former head of sales at Savills and head of operations at Romans, Riley says the retro car is working wonders for the firm.

He says that the car was chosen to reflect the niche agency and mirror its brand. He also wanted the vehicle to “turn heads, like our properties.”

He continues: “What better way to view properties and their stunning south coast surrounds than blasting along – within the speed limit – with the sea air in your hair, being chauffer-driven in one of Britain’s most iconic cars?”1 

The £25,950 car is taken to open-house events and is parked outside as an additional attraction for buyers.

1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/34/