RESIDENTIALlettings
Genesis brought two estate agents on to its Factory Quarter site in Chiswick to sell the 350 properties in its first phase of development. There are 320 small housing associations in London alone, managing from 100 to 1500 properties each, and many of them could look to turn their properties over to a professional management firm, again, there is a huge market opportunity for those agents that are willing to take it. But there’s also a huge threat, Philip Evans says, as other housing
High rise competition could become a problem for agents who ignore the market.
There are some interesting opportunities. A large mixed block would create sizeable purchasing power for the facilities manager, potentially securing discounted deals with tradesmen even for owner-occupiers in the building. An agency willing to take on such management contracts could
find them extremely profitable, but it would need to be able to deal with all the different tenure types. Some Housing Associations are now outsourcing part of their work, creating another opportunity for agents. For instance
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www.propertydrum.com PROPERTYdrum JULY 2011 61
associations move the other way. “A lot of housing associations are now looking at commercial activities, opening subsidiary companies for instance, and those commercial companies employ commercial people.” That will bring new competition for agents who have been used to having things their own way. Philip Evans warns that even agents who don’t want to work in
the social sector can’t afford to ignore it. He believes the market will change, and those who don’t change with it could find themselves in dire straits. “There were agents who said back in 2006, 2007, ‘We only
sell houses, we can’t be bothered with this rental stuff, there’s not enough money in it’, they found out the hard way.” When affordable housing goes mainstream, a lot of agents could find themselves in the same position, facing stronger competition, and losing out on much of the most profitable business.
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