75% Of Estate Agents Have No Intention Of Hiring New Staff In The Next Year

Research from WiggyWam, the all-in-one property platform, reveals that 75% of estate agents have no intention of hiring new staff in the coming year, regardless of the SDLT holiday extension, the introduction of 95% mortgages, and the rapid rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.

This is despite 84% of agents stating they have been busier than usual as a direct result of the stamp duty holiday. Of these agents, 39% describe their past year as being  ‘extremely’ busy compared to the level of trade expected during a 'normal' 12 months.

Of the 25% of estate agents who say they do intend to hire new staff in the coming year, only 10% plan to introduce more than two new team members into their business. This is despite many forecasts predicting a continuation of this past year’s property boom.

Indeed, the vast majority of estate agents appear unconcerned with many of the external factors which are widely reported to be the making of a very busy 2021 for residential agents.

28% of respondents cite the SDLT holiday extension as a key influence on their hiring decisions over the next year, making it the most influential market force in the eyes of UK estate agents.

In somewhat of a surprise, agents don’t appear to believe that the Tory party’s introduction of 95% government-backed mortgages will have a significant impact on market demand moving forward. Just 14% cite it as an influence in their hiring decisions, making it less important than the optimism created by the general uplift in the market (27%), as well as the end of lockdown and the rollout of vaccines (16%).

WiggyWam CEO, Silas J. Lees MRICS, says:

“On the surface, it might seem strange that the majority of estate agents have no plans to hire given the busy market conditions we’ve seen over the last year, especially given that they look set to continue right through until September, at the very least.

“However, many agents are still finding their feet after the initial financial instability of lockdown and the average agent has around £100,000 in fees stuck in their pipeline due to the current market backlog. As a result, they may be hesitant to hire as they lack the immediate financial resources to do so.

“It is an area that needs property consideration though as lack of effective new hires could lead to rising stress levels as they feel the burden of doing more work than humanly possible.

“Our recommendation would be to find a middle ground and utilise third party service and products to help with some of the heavy lifting. WiggyWam’s ‘Conveyancing Concierge Service’ is one such product that can do just that, and by adding it to their business, agents can increase their fees whilst outsourcing their sales progression facility to a partner who has their vested success at heart.”

Survey of 9,993 estate agents carried out by WiggyWam on 11th March 2021 via Find Out Now