Free website set to shake up property market
HE MADE millions by shaking up the insurance market and now entrepreneur Brian Blake, former managing director of Swinton Insurance, is planning to do the same in property.
This week he will officially launch his property website, thei property company, which will allow people and businesses to list their properties for sale, for free.
‘It’s going to make a massive difference to the market,’ he said. ‘The average seller spends thousands of pounds on estate agents’ commission and this will enable them to save an awful lot of money.’
Backed by the National House Building Council, developers are also selling their properties through the site, with Barratt Homes recently uploading 2,500 homes and 1,200 coming from Taylor Wimpey, with a further 2,000 coming soon from Persimmon.
With homes being listed for free, the company, backed by Blake, 71, and his business partner, John Candia Massey, 38, will make its money from the extra services available to buy through the site, such as mortgage brokers, lawyers, photographers and even providers of ‘for sale’ signs.
The portal can also be accessed via a smartphone app, and Blake, who splits his time between his properties in Majorca and Vanuatu in the South Pacific, said there was huge potential for growth in people selling their own homes.
‘In Canada, 30 per cent of homes are sold by the owners rather than going through estate agents. The internet has enabled people to cut out the middleman,’ he said.
‘I believe that in future people will say to their estate agents, “If you sell my property, then you get the commission, but if I sell it myself, you get nothing”. It’s really important for people to be able to sell their homes free of charge.’
The site is available in seven languages to help overseas buyers buy in the UK.