Independent lettings agency snapped up ... for a cool...

Belvoir has confirmed that its Brighton franchisees have acquired the independent Homelets agency in the town - for a cool £1m.

Existing Belvoir franchisees Wai Lam and Nathan Crombie have sealed the deal on Homelets Brighton, which has been operating for about 25 years.

This tripled the size of the Belvoir branch’s portfolio, adding 339 properties; the new owners also offer a sales service too. Homelets’ six staff are coming over to the new owners.

“Wai Lam and Nathan Crombie joined Belvoir in 2015, having bought the business from an existing franchisee. From day one they have worked extremely hard and demonstrated real determination and entrepreneurial spirit, winning several Belvoir and national awards in the process” explains Belvoir chief executive Dorian Gonsalves.

Speaking of the acquisition, Crombie says: “Wai and I have been looking for an opportunity to grow our business for some time, and when this opportunity was brought to our attention by the Belvoir acquisition team, it seemed ideal. We took time to get to know the business and understand what this would mean and we are now looking forward to expanding our client base and working with new landlords and tenants.

“This acquisition gives us a fantastic opportunity to further establish ourselves in a very competitive market in Brighton and Hove and we are very excited to work with our new clients and introduce them to the many additional services and products that we can offer. We know they have come to expect the highest level of service and this is a challenge we are really looking forward to.”