Agency network to reveal hitherto-unseen market information

Fast-growing agency network Lomond is launching its own national and regional market information - and it claims it’s using data rarely in the public domain.  

The network, whose branches from Aberdeen to Brighton deal with a managed lettings portfolio of over 40,000 and more than £100m of sales transactions each month, has enlisted data firm Dataloft for the initiative. 

Lomond chief executive Ed Phillips says: “Our aim is to create the ultimate market-tracking resource in the UK residential property sector. The richness of our home-grown data includes applicant and viewing numbers, instructions and exchanges across all our 12 regional brands – metrics that are not often quoted in the media, especially at a local level. 

“It provides a different window into current market trends, comparing them to the same period last year and equips us with a measured, data-backed response to some of the sensationalist headlines that plague our sector.

“Over the months and years ahead, it will provide a series of data points monitoring what is happening in the market, enabling us to best advise clients in real time. Much is quoted at a national level but there is no one-size-fits-all to the market. Lomond’s unparalleled reach across England and Scotland allows us to drill down and showcase how the regions differ - with local indicators not necessarily tracking in the same direction as a national indicator. 

“Lomond uses a single technology platform for all our branches. This guarantees consistency across the whole network and gives us an added advantage over other larger groups with a franchise model, who may use several different platforms.  

This is just one example of how the group is leveraging its centralised resources, including technology, to accelerate our ambitious growth plans.” 

The inaugural Quarterly Insight explores trends and performance nationally, as well as across all its individual operating regions – Scotland, Yorkshire, Manchester and the North West, Birmingham and West Midlands, and the South Coast. 

Key research findings by comparing the first quarter in 2023 with the same period a year ago include lettings reported to have seen increases across all five of its key metrics – instructions, applicants and tenancies per branch, plus applicants and viewings per instruction. 

There’s also been a 90.97 per cent increase in letting applicants, with the average number per branch rising to 275. The South Coast topped the regional table of demand, with an average of 375.42 applicants per branch – almost double the number in Scotland. 

The analysis also focuses on market dynamics in the rental market where the demand-supply imbalance continues.  

While research shows that greater renter affordability is likely to soften the rate of rent rises in future months, the “trajectory for prices remains positive” with Lomond revealing that on average three new applicants every day register with each of its branches. 

Lomond analysis shows that many landlords are raising rents by less than the current market rate for those who renew. 

A copy of the full report is available to view here from Lomond’s website.