Will Traditional Estate Agents Leave UK High Streets In The Near Future?

The fact that the face of traditional British High Street is changing is hardly a secret, and it has arguably undergone its most dramatic transformation in the last five years than it has ever done before. While some are rejoicing with others mourning the loss of high street fashion chains and retail stores, estate agents have been one of the worst-performing retail users in recent years. 

With more than 150 branches closed last year, it is now time to ask ourselves whether estate agents still need to have a physical presence on the High Street. Today, most tenants currently make direct approaches via online platforms, and it is hard to make the case that branches play a critical role in bringing in business since they are not doing so. 

While there is still the need to have a physical presence of sorts, a central headquarters or perhaps even regional hubs to maintain brand awareness and customer interface, it is now crystal clear that the concept of a branch on every high street is an outdated one and the costs have unfortunately become increasingly expensive.

Digital Revolution

Technology, however, presents a possibly more fruitful future for letting agents and the customer. The digital revolution, especially in the lettings market, has made the whole property search process more manageable, more efficient, and more transparent than ever before, and generally speaking, anything that is good for the customer is almost always good for the business.

Technology coupled with a mindset shift has opened virtually limitless possibilities regarding flexible working. While this might still be a relatively new concept when it comes to property and estate agency, it will no doubt keep making advances as businesses come to understand that their agents can be just as productive (if not more) not just sitting in the office at great expense, but rather at home (for free) or other similarly appropriate workspaces. 

Suppose the business can reduce such unnecessary overheads. In that case, it can have significantly more resources to invest in other equally important aspects of the company where it previously would not have been able such as website, customer benefits, technological improvements, staff training, etc.

However, one area where it is impossible to overlook is the critical role that branches undoubtedly play in two crucial areas: the customer interface and brand awareness.

Having a branch on every high street is arguably one of the best forms of advertising for an estate agent, but if people are not walking into those branches and they cost more than what they are bringing in, they do not make much sense anymore.

A better approach would be for estate agents to identify new, modern, and more effective ways of showcasing their brands, such as the use of traditional TV advertisements, using social media influencers as well as Out of Home (OOH) campaigns, which can be equally powerful ways and reach a far bigger audience than just the local catchment.

Online Agencies

Customer service is an essential aspect of any business, and, understandably, some people might be skeptical about the ability of online estate agents to offer the same level and quality of service to their clients in the absence of that physical interface.

Surprisingly, however, what we have discovered is that if you were to put the right level of investment in the technological side of the platform, it helps in freeing up the agents to head out into the physical world to meet with clients. Agents will longer be tied to their desks throughout the day with their eyeballs glued to tenancy agreements since all the paperwork is essentially handled at the click of a button or perhaps two.

If you are an estate agent, it is not an easy pill to swallow, but if this sector is to have any chance of evolving, growing, and advancing, it is important for all players and especially estate agents, to embrace change and look ahead to exciting new opportunities to offer their clients the best service possible.