UK agents have generated £2.7 billion in fees thanks to the stamp duty holiday

Research from WiggyWam, the all-in-one property platform, shows that UK estate agents have generated an estimated £2.7 billion in agency fees since the introduction of the stamp duty holiday.

Since July of last year, the housing market has experienced unprecedented demand and estate agents have been working flat out.

An estimated 772,830 transactions have completed between July 2020 and May 2021 at an average price of £245,079.

With an average UK agency fee of 1.42% per transaction (equivalent to £3,480), total fees generated have reached just below £2.7 billion in only 10 months.

With an estimated 22,270 agency branches in the UK, this makes for an average of £120,770 per branch in fees since July 2020.

Regionally, agents in England are estimated to have generated the most at £2.38 billion, Scottish agents have generated a potential £221 million, in Wales it’s £80 million, and £42 million in Northern Ireland.

However, when analysing the fees generated on a per branch level, Scottish agents have had, by far, the most successful year.

With around 20,661 agency branches in England, each one has earned an average of £112,213 in fees, while in Scotland where there are roughly 784 agency branches, each one has generated a remarkable £282,347 in fees.

Each of the 533 agents in Wales have generated £150,535 per branch, and in Northern Ireland, 291 branches have generated £146,943 each.

Diving into the different regions of England, agents in the South West have enjoyed the most income from fees, with each regional branch generating an average of £187,849 since July 2020. At the bottom of the list is London where each of the estimated 7,514 agency branches has generated an average of £61,784 in fees since July 2020.

WiggyWam CEO, Silas J. Lees, said:

“It’s great to see agents enjoying such prosperity following what was a very uncertain time a year ago. But the question on most agent’s lips right now is; ‘How long can this last?’

“Most are making hay whilst the sun shines, yet those forward-thinking agents with an eye on the future are also contemplating what could be a very different market later this year once furlough ends and the extent of possible job losses are known.

“We’re always encouraging agents to think about what impact a slow-down in the market could have on their business. As a former agent myself, I remember when the ‘credit crunch’ happened in 2008; it was as though someone had unplugged the phones in the office, after a very busy few months selling every property we could get our hands on!

“Agents need to make plans to differentiate their services from their competition, whilst looking to increase their fees during a slower market. Less sales require more profit to be made from each transaction, and it’s here where working with WiggyWam can add significant value to each agents’ service offering.”

Table shows the estimated fees accumulated by estate agents in each region based on: –

–          An average fee of 1.42% Inc VAT – source the Advisory

–          This fee applied to the average house price in each region and then multiplied by the volume of sales to find total fees paid – Source UK House Price Index

–          Total fees then divided by the number of estate agents in each region to find the average fees per estate agent – Source the Negotiator