Shares in most property industry companies fell yesterday as stock markets continued to tumble, amid growing investor concern about the the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Shares in LSL, The Property Franchise Group, and Belvoir dropped by more than 6% yesterday, while Purplebricks and Savills were also among a number of property firms to see notable declines on Monday.
Purplebricks, in particular, is enduring a torrid time, with its share price hitting its lowest-ever level of just 14p yesterday, before recovering slightly to end the day down 4.5% at 14.14p.
Shares in the online estate agent have plummeted since its all-time high in 2017 of 525p, with recent regulatory failings, contributing to that decline.
Purplebricks, who are currently facing a class action lawsuit from over 100 former agents who believe they were entitled to the benefits given to permanent employees, despite being classed as self-employed, was recently forced to delay the publication of its first half results to provide for any potential future claims which could arise under the Housing Act in relation to this regulatory process issue.
The move followed speculation that the online estate agency could potentially face a bill of up to £30m after it allegedly put thousands of landlords at risk of being because it failed to follow basic tenancy law.
EYE revealed in November that Purplebricks had failed to properly serve legally required documents to tenants explaining their deposits have been put into a national protection scheme.
Purplebricks, which recently said the six-month period to October 31 had been “challenging”, is currently being investigated by Propertymark for potential tenancy law breaches.
“As a representative body we take any allegations against our members incredibly seriously and we will be investigating the claims of failure to properly register tenancy deposits by Purplebricks,” David Oliver, head of Propertymark Compliance, said.
Comments (12)
Unless I misread it PeeBee, towards the end of your post it appeared you were disillusioned with Eye?
I did, prior to its removal PeeBee, chance to read your reply to my post.
Although I didn’t agree with the majority of the content, I believe you are entitled to your view and would have been perfectly happy to continue our exchange.
I have read your posts with interest over many years, I consider you a meaningful contributor and am sorry you have become so disillusioned.
Thank you for your reply, Property Ear.
“am sorry you have become so disillusioned.”
“Disillusioned” in what respect?
13.70p. This is getting interesting.
agent orange – you’re gonna need a bigger bowl of popcorn…
*Sits back, grabs popcorn*
Not long to go now, just like all the others.
No sign of those ‘sophisticated investors’ we used to hear so much about.
I feel you’re being unnecessarily harsh on Eye PeeBee.
Eye’s all time high of 500p is only 5% off the mark – surely the most salient content of the post is that Purple Bricks is suffering a well deserved torrid time with a rock bottom share price.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to refer to my post of last evening, in which I responded to the general criticism of Eye reporting on the case of an estate agent being prosecuted for drink driving. I suggested that critics of this ilk should get up off their bums and submit something of interest themselves and remember that this is a free newsletter.
As a one office, independent estate agent, I deeply appreciate this daily top up of news and views which is extremely helpful, often valuable, in these incredibly challenging times. Those who don’t appreciate it should cancel their affiliation and ask for their money back!!
Unfortunately. Property Ear, I am being denied the opportunity to reply to your post in the way I would have liked to. EYE do not take kindly to people having an opinion on their current offering.
Sad, really.
“Shares in the online estate agent have plummeted since its all-time high in 2017 of almost 500p”
Why does EYE continue to report this figure incorrectly?
On 8 August 2017 Purplebricks share price hit 525p (credit: Yahoo Finance).
Opened at 13.9p this morning. More down than a lake full of ducks.
I note the correction. Thank you.