Controversial Labour MP says property better than pensions for retirement.
A Labour MP who has in the past been fiercely critical of estate and lettings agents now says that property is better than pensions for retirement.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, has in the past presented headline-grabbing awards to agents who have supposedly been the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ in her constituency – although on that occasion the same agency won both accolades. In the past she used her role on the old Labour opposition front bench to criticise the use of ‘introductory fees’ being levied by estate agents in some sales hot spots.
“How can you be acting in the interest of the seller if you are also making money from the buyer? This practice to me looks unfair. The behaviour of estate agents doing this needs to be challenged” she said at the time.
Conveyancers may have to publish prices, services and reviews
As the process of making buying and selling more transparent continues to gather pace, the body that regulates conveyancers says it is to mandate firms to publish their service standards and prices online.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers says this is to help consumers make informed choices when they need a lawyer, and to encourage CLC-regulated firms to use the transparency drive to differentiate themselves better and attract clients. It says this could include opening up to third-party feedback platforms and price comparison websites, but their use will not be made mandatory.
Last autumn the CLC issued a consultation entitled Helping Consumers Choose their Lawyer – Service, Quality and Price Transparency. This proposed steps to implement the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority’s 2016 report that found a lack of transparency was hindering competition in the legal market.
Sarah Beeny back in the boardroom, saying online agents will grab 70% share
TV property expert Sarah Beeny says she expects online agencies to take 70 per cent market share in the future – and she has revealed that she is likely to return as a director of Tepilo, the online agency she founded and which is now part of Emoov.
“There are still talks to be had in the new company but it’s more than likely that I’ll return as a director. Quite aside from the business itself, I’m very conscious that the drive at the moment is to have more women in the boardroom of businesses everywhere and that applies to property as much as any other” she says.
Beeny founded Tepilo in 2009 and it operated for around four years as a For Sale By Owner service; it relaunched in October 2013 as an online-only agency and 18 months ago it moved into new headquarters in central London.
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