Why Councils should not be letting agents

For the first time in twenty-five years, I have resigned from a consultancy assignment without finishing it.  I was asked by a council to help them to prepare a business plan to set up their own letting agency.  I had reservations about taking the job from the outset but I had no other clients in…

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How Councils are contributing to homelessness

My local pub has an extraordinary notice on the door.  It says “No children in either the pub or the garden, no exceptions.  Dogs welcome!”  Most discrimination is illegal now but child hating, it seems, is still allowed.  So is discrimination against tenants on housing benefit.  Almost every local newspaper, especially those in the poorer…

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Tax is no longer optional

I never thought the day would come when I would write an article on this subject but I am going to use my column this month to talk about why you need to pay your tax.  I haven’t suddenly become a socialist and I am certainly not going to give moral advice.  I am well…

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Is the tenant fee ban the thin end of the wedge?

I am beginning to wonder what I’ve done to offend this government.  Firstly, David Cameron misjudged the mood of the electorate and triggered Brexit.  As a direct consequence, fifteen of the estate agency business sales that I had arranged fell through.  I spent four months putting most of these sales back together again only to…

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What next for the online agents?

The online agents have made considerable progress in the last year but I do not believe that this will continue.  Why do I say this?  Because I suspect that they are not selling enough houses.  A really good estate agent will sell 90% of the houses that they take on and will get 90% of…

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