As I write this I am celebrating the tenth birthday of Rayner Personnel, the property recruitment firm that I founded and am proud to run to this day.
I could bang on about the 2,000-plus client businesses that we have helped in that time. But to do so would be gratuitous and would surely not get past the editor of this fine publication due to being overtly promotional on my part. So no, I will not mention this achievement nor the 5265 candidates that we have placed in jobs across the property sector in that decade 😉
However, I will squeeze in my sincere thanks to our brilliant team of now 34 individuals that have made and continue to make our business what it is. Thank you.
Rather than looking back as is traditional, I’d like to take the opportunity, now that the hangover has subsided from our celebrations on the Thames last week, to talk about the things that I believe are going to be of the utmost importance to the property industry in the coming decade. Aspects that have perhaps not been the focus to date, were hardly mentioned ten years ago but that signify how the property industry is now changing.
Appropriately, I will highlight ten things:
People
Property is a people business, that’s not new. But I have seen a shift in employer thinking of late that more acknowledges individuals and indeed individual salary packages as opposed to a one size fits all corporate approach to attracting and indeed retaining staff. Bespoke deals are all the rage now and tailored to specific experience and, in particular, the relationships that candidates can bring with them. This considered approach to hiring is set to become much more standard in the future. Indeed, employers realise that to hire the best and to keep them, not only do they have to pay better but they have to understand ROI – the return on investment per team member. What does it really matter if you’re paying ‘over the going rate’ if your neg, lister or branch manager brings in twice what the average person does?
Technology
Proptech is yet to really spread its wings in our industry as many predicted it might. There are lots of solutions trying to find a problem still and this means that the agency sector is often quite sceptical about adopting the latest platform or app. But that will change as technology vendors tweak and pivot their products and continue to better understand the agent animal – a person that is generally financially cautious and time poor and that seeks zero friction in the integration of new tech. Above all, the Proptech winners will be those that appeal to what I consider to be the Holy Grail of understanding, that technology works in conjunction with great people rather than instead of them.
Consolidation
Lots of new estate agencies have sprung up since 2012. There are 19,446 branches in 2022 compared to 15,909 then (Source: IBIS World) . But the number of premises is now reducing, down from 21,232 in 2019. Expect to see a continuing flurry of acquisitions as corporates and entrepreneurial independents snap up smaller firms in a quest to consolidate costs through economies of scale and to add value to their own exit strategies.
Self-employed
When I founded Rayner Personnel in 2012 there was no such thing as a self-employed agent in the UK. Talk of this being the norm in the US was and sometimes still is met with mockery. Yet by my count there are already over 1000 self-employed agents in Britain and, whilst this is a small percentage of the 60,000 or so total, it is my opinion that it’s the start of a sub-sector that is only going to grow and, I believe that one, maybe two players are going to drive the supported self-employed agency model to something significant in size. Like Purplebricks did in the online space.
Personal brand
Perhaps linked to the self-employed sector comments above, it’s undeniable that the question of personal brand is now ‘a thing’. Many believe that the corporate brand above the door is now less important than the profile of the individual agent.
My belief is that reputation, existing client relationships, local presence and social media kudos are key aspects to the success of an individual estate agent and should be nurtured and promoted heavily by those that understand this. It’s their true, tradable value and will be one of the most prominent and important things in UK estate agency in the coming years.
Regulation
It’s coming. Yes, it’s been threatened for years but notwithstanding other political distractions right now, you can expect to see estate agency licensing introduced soon (ish). Can anyone honestly make an argument that an unregulated ‘wild-west’ approach is ok?
Working From Home
Wow, this is a dynamic that if raised as a possibility even three years ago let alone ten would have been laughed at by anyone involved in property. ‘It simply won’t work in estate agency’ they said. Now, many agents ‘WFH’ and it seems to work just fine. Why shouldn’t it? In particular, I’m seeing that firms who encourage such are also attracting candidates that otherwise would never consider estate agency as a career and so the pool of potential job seekers just got bigger (and better). It’s here to stay.
Fees will increase
Yep. Licensing, greater social media and review rating scrutiny, bigger fee splits (see the self-employed comments above) and consolidation will lead to better service levels and thus higher fees – higher because better service and outcomes means higher fees can be better justified. The only thing preventing an increase in revenue per client? … is the industry itself!
Diversity and Inclusion
This is of course firmly on the radar of all companies and organisations. Now that the light is increasingly shining on this subject and there’s more statistical data to analyse, expect to see a better balance of ethnicity and gender across the property sector and yes, that means lots more women in c-suite positions at last – and not before time.
Mental health
Sshhhh. We don’t talk about mental health, do we? It certainly isn’t a subject that was openly encouraged a decade ago, in fact it was lampooned as a weakness.
But at one time or other most of us will struggle with our mental health and it’s thankfully now accepted as a challenge that should be openly discussed and supported.
If the market weakens and agencies and agents start to struggle financially, it’s vital that our sector understands and supports the issue of mental health from the top to the bottom of the trade.
So that’s my ten. Ten issues that were rarely if ever on the sector’s radar back in 2012 but ten years later are very much topical.
My prediction is that many if not all of these will be dominant issues as the industry adapts and changes. But if you disagree with any of them, I’d love to hear your view and why.
Josh Rayner is CEO of Rayner Personnel.
Comments (5)
Qualification to do what
Say to a vendor I have an offer of x – vendors say no I want y
go back to buyer
Not rocket science
Qualification will not increase fees in a competitive market there will always be some agents who are less expensive than other and who have different model
Jan-byers, sounds like you need some training on how to handel offers. Negotiation is an art.
No it is not
I was a very successful agent for years ending up as a director
EA is a low skilled job
I am now a new homes developer – ,10 – 50 units
On my first day as an estate agent as an 18 year old I sold a semi detached house to a guy I rang of the mailing list and showed him over at lunchtime
Me to Vendor – we have an offer of £39,000 from a gentleman who lives in your street is buying for his mother – we have spoken to the Leeds BS who confirm they have agreed mortgage ( were able to do that way back then)
Vendor – no I want asking price of £39,500.
Me to buyer – Vendor will not accept less than asking price it is well priced and has just come to the market we have other people who have arranged to view already tomorrow – suggest you offers asking price so you do not miss out for your mother
Buyer – will they accept £39,700
Me to Buyer I think it is unlikely but will ask
Me to Vendor he has come to £39,700 I will say that is not acceptable and it has to be asking price with your approval
vendor – Thanks I really want asking price or keep on the market
Me to buyers = – no vendor wants asking price the house has been on the market less than 24hours we have other people due to view tomorrow I suggest to offer asking price
Buyer – Yes ok
me to vendor – we have asking price – do you wish us to continue with the other viewings
vendor – not if he gives sols details
Me to Buyer if you give sols details today vendor will take off market
Buyer gives details;
Not a big deal for someon on his 1st day
The only skill in the job is getting houses on the market at the right price – the rest is a basic admin job
And there it is, the very reason why some agents are **** poor summed up by Jan.
why do agents need training? A case example.
Really great article Josh. Agree with all points. I think for me specifically is regulation. We all had such high hopes for ROPA but their voice once a roar is now a whisper and all we are left knowing is the qualification needs to be L3 and then L4 for directors. However with so many providers in the mix with a variation of complexity there needs to at least be an approved providers panel. We are certainly seeing employers adapt a pay scale for non-Propertymark staff vs propertymark qualified staff – largest I have seen is 5k on a property manager position. This is starting to feel more normal in lettings but sales has literally no focus on qualification at all.
Congratulations on your 10th birthday Josh. Thank you for all you do to help people in the industry