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Jeremy Leaf, former RICS chairman, discusses the housing White Paper

Melanie Bien • Feb 07, 2017

Bien Media client Jeremy Leaf, a former RICS residential chairman and north London estate agent, discusses the Government's housing White Paper

Bien Media client Jeremy Leaf, a former RICS residential chairman and a north London estate agent with 25-plus years experience in land and new homes , discusses the housing White Paper which was released today:

‘The proposals in the White Paper sound great but we have heard it all before. Talking is all well and good but what about action – what will it actually mean for the builders, the planners, the architects, the local authorities and of course the buyers in the near future?

‘The first issue when dealing with any problem is to recognise it – and we welcome the fact that the government has done that. But we now want to see a strict, verifiable timetable for delivery on all fronts. Whether it is the issues with lettings or supply or infrastructure, delivery or planning – we want to see what is going to make a difference.

‘What would be refreshing and of immense value would be to see a cross-party political agreement so we don’t see the booms and busts and stops and starts that have dogged housing policy in the past. A measure of agreement across the political divide would be welcome so that we can move forward not just in this parliament but in future parliaments. A coherent, respected, long-term policy which involves building more houses and keeping prices in check would go a long way to solving the broken housing market.’

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Houso, the off-market property app, hires Bien Media to boost its profile

by Melanie Bien • 03 Feb, 2020

Houso, a revolutionary new property app which allows vendors to gain pre-market exposure for their home in order to gauge interest before committing to selling for free, has hired property PR agency Bien Media to raise its profile in the press. Ben Johnston, founder and director of Houso, says: ‘Anyone who’s experienced the torturous home-buying and selling process knows the current system is simply not working. With so little stock for sale, and far more demand than supply, vendors won’t seriously entertain an offer from a buyer unless the buyer’s own home is under offer. But if you haven’t found a dream home to buy, why risk marketing your own property? If you receive an offer, the pressure is on to find your next home and you may end up buying something which is ok, not brilliant, just for the sake of it. This is where wrong decisions are made.’ Houso aims to solve these problems and remove uncertainty by enabling vendors to list their home, for free, in order to gauge buyer interest. This pre-market exposure enables vendors to build a waiting list of people keen to buy their home. It gives the vendor the confidence to go house-hunting themselves, safe in the knowledge that there are interested parties in their own home. Then when the vendor finds their perfect next home, the transactional time could be greatly reduced. Melanie Bien, director of property PR agency Bien Media, says : ‘We are delighted to be working with Houso to raise awareness of what they are trying to do, which is to resolve what are real issues with the whole process of buying and selling property. Anyone who has sold a home has been there – trying to find an interested and qualified buyer at the same time as finding the dream home that you wish to buy, and having an offer accepted on it. That’s a lot of pressure on things happening at the right time and in this market with such low levels of stock available, it’s increasingly difficult to achieve.’ www.houso.co.uk