Kerrigans Estate Agency News.

Estate agent to close doors after shake-up at firm.

Estate agents Reeds Rains is to close its Doncaster branch at the end of this week.

Shocked staff were given just ten days notice of the closure in a personal visit by the company's South Yorkshire regional operations director. It is not clear whether they will be transferred to other branches.

Properties currently on the books of the Hall Gate branch will be transferred to the Doncaster branch of Your Move, which is also part of Lending Solutions Ltd, the parent company of Reeds Rains.

The Doncaster branch is one of 13 Reeds Rains offices to be closed around the country. The news came as a shock to its four staff who said business had been steady.

A spokeswoman for Reeds Rains said the company was going through an internal reorganisation which had resulted in the closure of some branches and consolidating others.

She could not say whether the Doncaster staff would lose their jobs or be transferred. She said: "We are currently working through an internal consultation process with all employees affected by the changes and we can reassure our customers with sales in progress that we will make every effort to minimise disruption and sales will be followed through to completion."

President of the Doncaster Estate Agents, Auctioneers and Valuers Society, Anthony Kerrigan said he was saddened to hear of the decision.

He said: "It's a sign of the times. They offered a good service to their customers and were members of the appropriate governing bodies like the Ombudsman's Scheme which oversees estate agents, unlike many of the newer estate agents who are not members of anything."

Figures released this week by Rightmove showed that house prices in Doncaster had fallen by 3.4 per cent in the past month.

The survey showed that the average price of a house is now £137,591, down from £142,433 in April. This is down 5.2 per cent on last May's figure when the average price stood at £145,196.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said new buyer enquiries in Yorkshire fell for the 12th consecutive month in April but new vendor instructions had picked up for the third month in succession.

But RICS spokesman Ian Perry said the real issue was the collapse in the number of housing transactions. "This has very real implications, not just for the property industry but also the high street and the wider economy," he said.

Date: May 08
Source: Free Press