Estate agents in the UK currently have more than 582,000 properties in their pipeline according to property platform WiggyWam.
Estate agents in the UK currently have more than 582,000 properties in their pipeline, worth an estimated value of £143bn, according to property platform WiggyWam.
As a result, UK agents have more than £2bn worth of agency fees currently in abeyance.
Breaking the data down, each estate agency branch in the UK is currently waiting on £105,000 worth of fees.
Agents in London alone are dealing with a pipeline stock of almost 93,000 properties worth an accumulated value of £45.5bn.
While Birmingham has significantly more properties in the pipeline than Bristol, the significantly higher average house price in Bristol means that the value of the pipeline and the fees in abeyance is greater than Birmingham.
This also explains why Bournemouth does not appear in the top 10 for number of pipeline properties despite it having the UK’s eighth highest pipeline value.
Silas J. Lees, chief executive of WiggyWam, said: “I’m astounded by these figures which are far higher than anyone could have expected.
“It highlights the immediate need for systemic change in the industry, particularly the need to build a bridge between the agency and legal sides of homebuying to help clear this backlog.
“For agents in particular, this is proof that complacency is now your worst enemy. There is just too much to lose.
“Our mission at WiggyWam has always been to remove the barriers preventing people from moving home.
“Working alongside agents and the legal profession to streamline the legal process means we can guarantee deals exchange in less than half the time they currently take.”
