The latest figures from new property search portal, Ex-Council.com, have revealed that former local authority homes comprise one in ten houses in the UK.
According to the figures there are 2.7 million ex-council properties in the UK – equating to more than one in ten homes in the country. In Scotland, the figure is even higher at 21%, with Northern Ireland and Wales coming in at 16% and 10% respectively.
Tracy Anderson, Client Relations Manager of Ex-Council.com said: “Former local authority homes have spent years being unloved and under-valued. But far from being the poor relation of the property market, ex-council housing is actually the ‘Cinderella Sector’.
The truth is that, far from being property’s poor relation, there’s lots of commission to be made here – simply because there are so many of them. However, until now, there has been no single ‘go-to’ website which brings together all the agents specialising in dealing with these type of homes, each promoting their advantages to buyers and investors.”
Agents that sell or let ex-council properties are being offered the chance to secure an exclusive postcode area through Ex-Council.com, the UK’s first national specialist site for ex-local authority homes. The aim of the site is to provide one agent in each area with the marketing tools to prove their expertise in this undervalued sector, and boost their instruction rates along the way – both for sales and lettings.
Tracey Anderson explained: “Imagine having exclusive access to leads from these sellers and landlords via a site that is already on page one of Google for these search terms – and, in some cases, at the very top. With unique marketing instruction packs and a significant national advertising campaign planned for the rest of 2017, if you’ve ever sold or let ex-council property you’re going to want to see what Ex-Council.com has to offer – before your main competitor does.”
The company’s research has shown that Harlow in Essex (postcode districts CM17-CM20) is the ex-council house heartland, with 29% of saleable former local authority property in its stock. Meanwhile, Crawley in West Sussex (postcode district RH10) has a total of 5,296 ex-council homes - the highest number in the country. In terms of value, the top 20 postcode districts are all in London and the South East, with Canary Wharf and Battersea occupying the first two places.
