Strike (formerly HouseSimple) is an online hybrid estate agent, with a bit of a unique selling point. They claim to offer the ‘full estate agency service’ for *free*.

While this claim is not completely true - you do have to pay extra for some things that come as standard with other estate agents - we were intrigued established Alexander Gosling and Sarah Cronin's offering to the propert market - Strike.co.uk

Driven by our dedication to estate agent performance, we decided to take a deeper look into how Strike works, and whether they’re any good. Since 2007 Strike has sold over £2.5 billion worth of property. 

However, if you want more support with your sale Strike.co.uk may not be as good value as it first appears.

## Is Strike really free?

Yes Strike is really free. Strike’s *basic* package is free with no fee. What’s actually included varies depending on your property’s location.

For certain postcodes in Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield, you can get the following from Strike for free. They have also launched their free service in London from February 2022.

### Strike's free package includes

* A valuation from a Strike ‘expert’
* Photos (non-professional) and floorplan
* Ads on Rightmove and Zoopla
* 'For Sale' Sign
* ‘Professional offer negotiation’
* ‘Dedicated support to completion’

If your house isn’t in one of these postcodes, Strike offers the following free services: 
* Virtual valuation
* Advert on Rightmove and Zoopla
* ‘Professional offer negotiation’
* ‘Dedicated support to completion’

**Tip:** We’d always recommend getting your home valued in-person before you put it on the market. Online valuations are just estimates, and are unable to take in many of the features that make your home unique. If you’re looking to put your property on the market, you can book a free valuation in just a few clicks. [Go there now.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor)

## Strike's fees

Strike don’t share the costs of their additional services very clearly on their website, but through a bit of investigation, we found the following Strike fees:

* **Core Services**: Free
* **EPC:** £90 (but you can get one for significantly cheaper [here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/epc).)
* **Viewings Service:** £549 for unlimited viewings, or £35 per viewing
* **Key Management Fee:** £78
* **Professional Photography:** £399
* **Upgraded listings on property portals:** Price unclear

These fees mean that if you wanted to get an experience closer to the ‘full’ estate agency experience, you’d end up having to pay at least £1,116 so Strike's fees work out to __just under 0.75%__ on a £200,000 property.

As a point of comparison, high street estate agent fees tend to start at around 0.75% too, and will include things like a single point of contact, and specialised knowledge of your local area as standard. 

### Do you have to use their recommendations?

No you don't have to use Strike's recomendations - you can use some, none or all of their recommendations. The optional services are clear and you're unlikely to find hidden fees.

## How does Strike make money?

![Strike Estate Agents](//images.ctfassets.net/us6n8ous4bz0/xnzsKdNp2Mtij9Qaop7kD/ba329f595d84219c8a86c33e0d3961f5/Strike_Estate_Agents.jpg)

Strike makes money by referring you to partner services. These include: 
- Mortgage providers, 
- Conveyancers
- Removal companies. 
- EPC

If you choose to work with one of these providers, Strike will be paid a referral fee. However these are optional.

Strike also makes money through its upgrades and extras. These include things like professional photography, or agent hosted viewings, which usually come as standard in an estate agent’s fee.

We’d recommend shopping around before deciding to go with any of these providers. The conveyancing provider Strike recommend is [the same as the one used by Purplebricks: Premier Property Lawyers](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/are-purplebricks-conveyancing-any-good). They have a notoriously bad reputation.

[You can check out our full review of Premier Property Lawyers here.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/are-purplebricks-conveyancing-any-good)

**Note:** If you live outside of the designated postcode areas, you will be unable to ‘boost your sale’ with an in-person valuation, or hosted viewing service.

```customBlock
EPCFinderCTA
```

## Is strike an estate agent?

Yes Strike are an estate agent.

```customBlock
VendorPostcodeCTA
```

### Strike Terms and Conditions to be aware of

We were curious about Strike’s business model, so we took a look at their terms and conditions, to see what you’re actually signing up for when you use this online estate agent. Here are a couple of the terms that stood out to us:

* **Sole Agency Term Length**

If you choose to work with Strike, you will sign a sole agency agreement, with a term of 13 weeks. Sole agency is pretty standard when it comes to estate agency contracts in the UK. It basically means that your agent has the ‘sole right’ to sell your home. If you decide you want to work with a different agent, you’ll have to wait till the 13 weeks are over before you can make the switch.

* **A Key Management Fee**

If you ‘upgrade’ your Strike package to include help with viewings, you will have to pay Strike a one-off ‘key management fee’. This appears to be a fee to ensure they store your key securely for the duration of your home sale - and seems to be something that should be included as standard. If you choose this option, be aware of this extra fee.

* **Limited Marketing Term**

Strike’s terms and conditions state that the ‘marketing term’ is limited to 6 months. If your house hasn’t sold after 6 months it will be removed from their website, the online property portals, and any other advertising mediums. Any purchased upgrades such as hosted viewings are also limited to this 6 month period. You will likely need to buy these ‘upgrades’ again if you want to continue marketing your house after the 6 months is up.

* **For Sale Sign**

There’s an interesting clause in the Strike terms and conditions which states that keeping the ‘For Sale’ sign up during the marketing period is compulsory. If you don’t Strike ‘reserve the right to immediately cease the supply of the Services'. If your ‘For Sale’ board gets stolen or damaged, you’ll have to pay a £30 fee.

## Are Strike any good?

This depends on what you're looking for and if you want their completeley free service. Beyond the intricacies of their terms and conditions, we also wanted to see what people actually thought about working with this online estate agent. We delved deep into a range of review sites to try and get a real sense of the level of customer service that Strike provides.

## Strike Reviews

At the time of writing, Strike has the following rating on the most popular estate agent reviewing platforms:

**[Trustpilot Reviews](https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/strike.co.uk)** - 4.7/5

**[AllAgents Reviews](https://www.allagents.co.uk/strike/)** - 4.2/5

__On average strike scores 4.4/5__

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  "addressRegion":"Essex",
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```
**Clearly the Strike model is popular!** But, looking a bit beneath the surface of the reviews revealed some worrying patterns.

Firstly, we found that the majority of bad reviews came from potential property buyers.

Many complained that they were unable to put in their offers, or that they decided to withdraw from the sale, because of poor communication. This suggests that Strike aren’t providing the ‘professional’ level of negotiation they promise, and sellers might be missing out on offers on their properties.

Even if you end up missing out on ‘only’ 5% of your property’s value, this can really add up. On a £200,000 property, 5% comes to £10,000, more than making up for any difference in fees.

These reviews of Strike were taken from Trustpilot:

##### **James Hirst, 19th August 2020:**
*‘Really poor experience as a buyer. After having an offer accepted the communication has just been non existent… I’d think twice again about offering on a house that is with an online agent.’*

##### **Anonymous, 13th August 2020:**
*‘I am considering pulling out of the purchase just because I can’t get hold of anyone there.’*

##### **Steve Harrison, 13th August 2020:**
*‘Called today 3 times and told everytime some one will ring you back… I’ve probably lost the house I wanted now.’*

##### **Ms Elizabeth Henson, 8th August 2020:**
*Her buyer ‘pulled out of sale because of lack of confidence in Strike to handle the situation’ after a failure to confirm the receipt of important financial documentation*

The other worrying trend we found was that many sellers had left multiple reviews. This is a sign that sellers are being requested for reviews at different points in their home sale, and many of those who leave reviews haven’t actually sold their property yet.

**For example:**

##### **Melody Leek left 3 reviews.** 
Firstly on the 17 Feb 2020, then on the 20 Jun 2020, and finally on 16 Aug 2020. She was very satisfied with Strike’s service, but the timing of her reviews shows that her property was on the market for at least *6 months*.

##### **Sinead Sweeney left 6 reviews**, 
between 11 April 2019 and 28th July 2020. All the reviews were 5* and Sinead is happy with the service, but her property was on the market for at least *15 months.*

##### **Tom Capel left 4 reviews** 
between 22 January 2020 and 13th August 2020. His property was on the market for at least *7 months*.

Nationally, the average time to sell a house is 4 months.

As it’s not a one off pattern in the reviews, suggests an issue with the agent service itself. It seems that without the expertise and support of a local agent, Strike are unable to offer as effective a service. Communication is a common problem with online agents, because they operate over a larger area and have to deal with more properties than a high street agent. This means they have less capacity to prioritise individual sales.

This finding is in line with research by The Advisory, an independent advice service, found that sellers using an online estate agent could be missing out on: up to 48% more viewings, 64% more offers, and an extra 5% on their final sales price. 5% may not sound much, on a £200,000 house this amounts to **an extra £10,000.**

**Tip:** If you’re looking for a quick, and free, way to sell your property, you might want to consider a cash house buyer. We go through the basics, and give you tips on how to find a legitimate buyer, [in this blog post](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/sell-house-cash-buyer).

## Will Strike be able to sell my home?

On their homepage, Strike states they put 8432 properties onto the market in 2019. They don’t however say how many of those have actually sold.

If all these properties were sold at the 2019 average house price of £247,000, the online agent would have sold over £2.8 billion worth of property.

Given that they also state on their website that they’ve sold over £3.2 billion worth of property since the company started (in 2007) it seems unlikely that the majority of this was all sold last year.

Want to know which agent can get you the best outcomes for your house sale? Pop in your postcode here to check out which agents are the top-performers in your area. See which agents could get you the best price, along with reviews from people who’ve worked with them recently. [Try it for free now.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor)

```customBlock
VendorPostcodeCTA
```

### Latest Properties for sale

[You can see Strike's latest propertys for sale here.](https://strike.co.uk/property-for-sale)

### Services offered

- Sales
- Moving
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- EPC
- Lettings (No)

## Contact Strike.co.uk
Name: Strike
Address: [The Octagon, Middleborough, Colchester, Essex UK, CO1 1TG](https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/The%20Octagon,+Middleborough,+Colchester+CO1%201TG/) 
Opening hours: 24/7 (online at strike.co.uk)


A young home seller lies on using a laptop, a dog lies next to her

strike-housesimple-review.jpg

If you’re happy to handle the heavy lifting of the sales process, Strike can offer a reasonable service. However, if you want more support with your sale, Strike may not be as good value as it first appears.

Strike Review: Are they any good?

Yopa is an online hybrid estate agency that claims to offer 'everything traditional estate agents do', but at a 'fair' fixed fee.
We were intrigued by this claim, and driven by our dedication to estate agent performance, we decided to take a deeper look into how Yopa works, what they charge, and whether they're any good.

We found that although Yopa clearly performs better than many other *online* estate agents, they still suffer from some of the limitations of the online estate agency model. We also found some sneaky terms and conditions in some of their fee packages, which we explore in a bit more detail below.

If you're willing to take more ownership of your sale, and are happy with a call centre approach, Yopa does offer a reasonable service. However, if you want more support with your sale, and to ensure you're definitely getting the best price for your house, an experienced, high street agent is a better option.

## Yopa reviews

At time of writing, Yopa estate agents had received the following ratings on the most popular estate agent reviewing platforms:

**Trustpilot**  - average rating of 4.7 out of over 10500 reviews
**Reviews.io** - average rating 1.7 out of around 250 reviews
**All Agents** - average rating 4.8 out of around 1500 reviews

This gives Yopa __an average review of 3.7/5__

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"name":"Yopa",
"sameAs": "https://www.yopa.co.uk/",
"aggregateRating":{"@type":"AggregateRating","ratingValue":3.7,"reviewCount":1438}}
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```
Clearly Yopa has a lot of fans! But, also a solid group of disgruntled customers too.

We found that the highest proportion of low reviews had come from potential property buyers. They complained about the lack of communication from Yopa. Many said that they'd been unable to view a property, and in some cases, make an offer. These types of Yopa review could be worrying for a seller, as they indicate that perhaps *not all* interest in properties was pursued, possibly leading to lower offers, or slower sales.

It's general practice for online estate agents to cover much wider areas of the UK than high street estate agents. This can mean online agents are dealing with a lot more properties over a much wider area, and they ultimately have less time to work on each one.

Other low reviews came from people expecting a *higher level of service* for their money. Many people were expecting (as Yopa claim) the same level of service as a local agent provides.

For example, **Jackie left this 1* Yopa review on AllAgents in July 2020**

'Apart from advertising on the portals, can't think of anything else Yopa did'.

However, if you're not hoping for the full estate agency experience, and are happy to take ownership of several elements of the sale, Yopa does seem to leave many property sellers satisfied. 

One recurring theme in the reviews was a super fast sale. For example a **5* Yopa review left by Elizabeth in July 2020**, states that 'We sold the house in less than 24 hours.'

And this **3* review from Ian, also from July 2020**: 'started out well house sold very quickly even though the photos weren't complete' 'contact was rare and felt had to chase for updates'
On the surface this sounds great. You've avoided the pain of lots of viewings and lengthy negotiations. 

But we have to wonder, if a property sells so quickly, was the asking price too low? How much more could Elizabeth have got for her property if she'd had more viewings and drummed up competition over a couple of weeks? Would Ian's property have sold for more if the agent had taken photos of the whole house, or chased up leads more effectively?

The Advisory, an independent advice service, found that sellers using an online estate agent could be missing out on: up to 48% more viewings, 64% more offers, and an extra 5% on their final sales price.
5%  may not sound much, but add 5% onto a £200,000 house and you get **an extra £10,000.**

Want to know which agent can get you the best outcomes for your house sale? Pop in your postcode here to check out which agents are the top-performers in your area. See which agents could get you the best price, along with reviews from people who've worked with them recently. [Try it for free now.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor)

## Yopa fees

| Package                              | Fee - Inside London | Fee - Outside London |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------- | -------------------- |
| Pay Now Core                         | £1,499              | £999                 |
| Pay Now Premium                      | £1,999              | £1,399               |
| Pay Later Core                       | £1,499              | £999                 |
| Pay  Later Premium                   | £1,999              | £1,399               |
| No Sale No Fee Core                  | Fixed               | Fixed                |
| No Sale No Fee Premium               | Fixed               | Fixed                |
| Extras - Agent Led Viewings          | £300                | £300                 |
| Extras - Featured Advert For 2 Weeks | £149                | £149                 |
| Extras - Premium Property Advert     | from £99            | from £99             |
| Extras - EPC                         | £85                 | £85                  |

There are three main Yopa fee offerings: Pay Now, Pay Later, and No Sale, No Fee

Within each of these there are 'basic' and 'premium' Yopa estate agency packages, which include a variety of different features. 
Each bundle has a single set fee that's the same wherever you are in the UK, except London, where Yopa charges more. We detail the specifics of each below:

### Pay Now
#### Core

**Outside London:** £999 fixed fee

**London:** £1,499 fixed fee

**Included:** Local estate agent, advert on Rightmove, Zoopla, and PrimeLocation, floor plan, property photos, For Sale sign, and access to the YopaHub (their online tracking tool).

#### Premium

**Outside London:** £1,399 fixed fee

**London:** £1,999 fixed fee

**Included:** As well as everything with the Core fee, the premium package includes unlimited viewings hosted by a Yopa agent, and a Premium listing on the major online portals.

### Pay Later

#### Core

**Outside London:** £999 fixed fee

**London:** £1,499 fixed fee

**Included:** Local estate agent, advert on Rightmove, Zoopla, and PrimeLocation, floor plan, property photos, For Sale sign, and access to the YopaHub (their online tracking tool).

**Important:** If you choose the Pay Later option, you are required by Yopa to use their preferred conveyancing broker - Optimus - or pay a fee of £300.

#### Premium

**Outside London:** £1,399 fixed fee

**London:** £1,999 fixed fee

**Included:** As well as everything with the Core fee, the premium package includes unlimited viewings hosted by a Yopa agent, and a Premium listing on the major online portals.

**Important:** If you choose the Pay Later option, you are required by Yopa to use their preferred conveyancing broker - Optimus - or pay a fee of £300.

### No Sale No Fee

#### Core

**Fee:** Fixed, but set at the discretion of the local Yopa estate agent.

**Included:** Local estate agent, advert on Rightmove, Zoopla, and PrimeLocation, floor plan, property photos, For Sale sign, and access to the YopaHub (their online tracking tool).

**Important:** If you pick the No Sale, No Fee option, you agree to enlist Yopa on a 'Sole Agency' basis for a minimum period of 16 weeks (or about 4 months). This means that if another agent finds you a buyer in this first 16 weeks, you will have to pay both Yopa and the other agent. You also can't cancel the contract until after this minimum period.

#### Premium (not available in every area)

**Fee:** Fixed, but set at the discretion of the local Yopa estate agent.

**Included:** As well as everything with the Core fee, the premium package includes unlimited viewings hosted by a Yopa agent, and a Premium listing on the major online portals.

#### 'Boost your Bundle' Extras:

Although Yopa claim to offer the same service as high street estate agents, you're required to pay extra for things that traditional agents would normally include in their fee.

These can be added to your Yopa fee package at any time, and are paid for upfront.

Some (but not all) are already included in the higher priced 'Premium' bundles, so make sure to check your agreement terms before adding!

##### Agent led viewings: £300

**Note:** The terms and conditions of your agreement with Yopa state that they are allowed to withdraw their viewings service at their discretion. They state that this might occur at any time 'where we consider it unreasonable for the agent to continue, in consideration of feedback from prospective purchasers.' If they decide to withdraw the service, you will not be refunded.

##### Featured advert for 2 weeks: £149
##### Premium Property advert: from £99

**Note:** The cost of a premium or featured listings varies depending on which package your estate agent has with Rightmove, however some sources suggest that the average fee is £10. This means Yopa is getting a significant mark up here.

##### EPC (England and Wales): 
Yopa charge £85 for an EPC, but you can get one for significantly cheaper [here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/epc). 

##### Home Report (Scotland only): 
Yopa offer an option to get quotes from their preferred providers through their website. They get a referral fee for this, so it might be cheaper to shop around to see whether you're actually getting the best deal here.

### Yopa estate agency 'Terms and Conditions' to be aware of

When working through the Yopa terms and conditions, a couple of things stood out to us, which we thought would be useful to make clear to those thinking of using the online estate agent.

Firstly, we found it interesting that although Yopa offers a 'Free Valuation' by a 'dedicated local agent', their terms of agreement require the home seller to accept that this is a 'market appraisal' and a 'guide' and *not* a valuation.

The exact terms are: 'You agree and acknowledge that the guide price provided by the Local Yopa Agent during or following the Market Appraisal is not a valuation of the Property.'

The phrasing of this is an attempt to avoid liability for inaccurate valuations. For example, if your property sells very quickly because it's priced too low, or if your house is so overpriced that it generates no interest at all.

Of course valuations are always in some sense an estimation. But most experienced agents are able to use their knowledge of the local market to gain a fairly confident sense of what buyers would pay for a property.

If you’re looking to have your property valued, you can book free valuations in just a few clicks. [Go there now.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor)

Secondly, there were some important things to bear in mind when deciding which fee bundle is right for you:

* **Pay Later**

If you pick 'Pay Later', you'll have to pick a conveyancer from Yopa's preferred conveyancing broker, or pay a £300 administrative fee if you would prefer to pick your own solicitor. You will receive a quote from a conveyancer when you sign up to Yopa, but this will simply be an estimate of costs, and won't include things like disbursement fees. We'd recommend shopping around before you decide to move forward. You may be able to find a better deal in your area, or a conveyancer with more specific experience with the type of property you're looking to sell.

The 'Pay Later' option also gives Yopa the option to transfer its right to your fee to a third party partner - Duologi. If you're considering this option, it's worth checking out whether you're comfortable with this, and Duologi's privacy policy, before moving forward.

Our suggestion is to *avoid* the Pay Later Option.

* **No Sale, No Fee** 

If you pick the 'No Sale, No Fee' option, you sign up to a sole agency contract with Yopa for a minimum of 16 weeks. Sole agency is pretty standard when it comes to estate agency contracts in the UK. It basically means that your agent has the 'sole right' to sell your home. If another agent sells the property, you will have to pay both agents. Sole agency does however make it more difficult to switch agents if you're unhappy, as you have to wait till the 16 weeks is over.

Unlike a standard high street agent, Yopa requires sellers to pay on exchange of contracts, rather than completion.

From our research we've found that paying an agent after a sale is confirmed results in better outcomes for the seller. This is because an agent is more incentivised to make sure the sale is successful. However, the best results come from commission-based agents, rather than those getting a fixed fee.

This is because the amount of commission an agent receives depends on how much money they make for the seller, so commission-based agents generally push to get the best price possible in property sales. Fixed fee agents don't have this same level of incentive.

### Which fee package is best?

We were able to use our data analysis tools, and our access to a range of data sources - across property platforms, and the UK Land Registry, to find out how many of the properties Yopa put on the market actually made it to completion within 12 months (which is much longer than the average time it takes to sell a house). We found that Yopa had only sold about half of the properties they'd been marketing. 

If you were one of the 50% that hadn't yet sold, but had paid the upfront fee, you'd end up having to pay again to enlist another more effective agent. Because of this, we generally suggest that home sellers *avoid* any agent charging an upfront fixed fee.

This means the **No Sale, No Fee option presents the best option.** If Yopa don't sell your property, or you decide you want to switch agents, you won't have to pay any fee. Your Yopa agent will also be extra incentivised to sell your property, because they haven't been paid upfront.

If you're unsure which agent will provide the best support for your home sale, try [this comparison tool.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor) It uses data from the Land Registry, and the major property portals, to figure out which agents in your area consistently get the best results. [Give it a go now.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/vendor)

## Are Yopa any good?

Beyond what Yopa charge, and the intricacies of their terms and conditions, we also wanted to see what people actually thought about working with [this online estate agent](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents). We delved deep into a range of review sites to try and get a real sense of the level of customer service that Yopa provides.

## Which is better: Purplebricks or Yopa?

Ultimately, Yopa is a better option than Purplebricks, but still has some of the same flaws that come from having an online agent / call centre model & an upfront fee service. Both agents offer a lower level of support throughout the sales process, and require you to deal with a range of people, rather than a single, dedicated point of contact.
As more high street agents begin to offer online tracking platforms alongside their personal and hyper local approach **offerings like Yopa and Purplebricks seem to have strikingly little to set them apart** - especially when you consider their worse overall performance, upfront fee, and the fact you might be contractually required to use their preferred conveyancing partner.

For our full review of Purplebricks [click here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/purplebricks-review) You can also read our review of their conveyancing partner ['Premier Property Lawyers' here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/are-purplebricks-conveyancing-any-good) and the [Purplebricks money back guarantee here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/purplebricks-money-back-guarantee-review).


young woman sat on sofa in modern flat researches on laptop whilst drinking tea

yopa-review-fees.jpg

Yopa does offer a reasonable service. However, if you want more support with your sale, and to ensure you're definitely getting the best price for your house, an experienced, high street agent is a better option.

Yopa Review: Are Yopa any good?

Purplebricks claim to be a refreshing alternative to the traditional high street agent. They tout low prices and positive reviews. Yet their services remain divisive. Although the company have an ‘Excellent’ 4.5 star review on Trustpilot, rival review site **AllAgents rates the company at just 1.3 stars.** Many of the poor reviews focus on a lack of communication, low motivation, and delays. 

**A significant number complain about the conveyancing services you have to use if you choose the ‘Pay Later’ option.** We decided to take a closer look at the online agent’s legal services partner to see whether the poor reviews were justified.

## Who does Purplebricks use for conveyancing?

Purplebricks use __Premier Property Lawyers__ for conveyancing. The company **trade under 62 different names** so they may be called something else when you receive your conveyancing quote. Their trading names include: 

- eZie Conveyancing 
- Homemover Direct
- My Home Move Conveyancing

Among several other firms, Premier Property Lawyers are __owned by the conveyancing group - Simplify__.

If you choose to use the conveyancers Purplebricks recommend, these are the conveyancing companies you are most likely to deal with.

In the past, Purplebricks used Advanced Conveyancing. It’s unknown when they stopped enlisting their services.

### Premier Property Lawyers

Premier Property Lawyers are proud of their status as the *largest* conveyancer in the UK. In the past few years they claim to have completed more cases than any other UK conveyancer. They credit this to their ability to combine ‘an innovative use of technology with personal service.’

Currently they employ 38 Licenced Conveyancers, 70 Solicitors, and 13 Legal Executives, with a combined experience level of over one thousand years. Along with this expertise, Premier Property Lawyers offers an **‘enhanced online case management service’** called eWay. This service allows you to track the status of your sale, and stay up to date with everything you need to do and what documents you need

#### Premier Property Lawyers reviews

As of 24th January 2022, Premier Property Lawyers have 3,473 Google Reviews with an __average rating of 3.5/5__. Some of the poorest reviews (ranging from 2-1 stars) cite the November 2021 online breach as having huge ramifications on their property sale, while others refer to a general lack of communication and information. Interestingly, most of their Google reviews are either 1 or 5 stars with little in-between.

A number of other estate agents recommend their services, including:

- Hunters 
- Andrew Grant 
- Fine & Country 
- Homesimple

and receive commission for their recommendations. The amount they get varies, but according to their website, **it averages £252.82 per referral.** 

### My Home Move

My Home Move is a trading name under Premier Property Lawyers. Whereas Premier Property Lawyers works with Purplebricks, My Home Move Conveyancing works ‘directly with the public’. 

Besides a PR campaign where the company sought a ‘mansion tester’ to live in a Grade II listed building back in September 2021, My Home Home hasn’t received the same publicity as its in-house law firm Premier Property Lawyers. The last time My Home Move made the news was back in 2017, when it acquired the award-winning conveyancing firm, Advantage Property Lawyers. 

#### Who owns My Home Move?

Simplify Group is the conglomerate owner of My Home Move and Premier Property Lawyers.

#### My Home Move reviews 	

While essentially the same company, My Home Move has a much lower rating on Google Reviews than Premier Property Lawyers, with a score of just __2.8/5__. The last time they received a five star review was over a year ago. On the other hand, My Home Move's Trustpilot reviews are glowing, with more than 6,000 reviews, and an average score of __4.3/5__.

### Simplify conveyancing

Simplify is the UK’s largest conveyancing and property services group. They were formed in 2019 when The Simplify Group and My Home Move merged together. Their list of conveyancing firms include:

- Premier Property Lawyers
- My Home Move
- Advantage Property Lawyers
- DC Law
- JS Law
- Cook Taylor Woodhouse
- GB Law

Purplebricks recommend the services of Premier Property Lawyers, making them an affiliate of Simplify Group. This relationship left many Purplebricks customers in limbo late last year, when Simplify experienced a data breach.

#### Simplify 2021 data breach

On the 7th November 2021, Simplify Group experienced a major security breach. Multiple conveyancing firms owned by (and using the same systems as) Simplify Group were affected. This included Premier Property Lawyers, Advantage Property Lawyers, and JS Law.

The holding message on the Simplify website read:

“We are aware and are working to resolve an ongoing systems outage. This involves multiple systems across our business including eWay and ieWay.
We are working non-stop to restore systems and we recognise this could be a difficult time for clients. Our priority is to help customers exchange/complete on time. If you are a customer affected by this outage please click here, this will help us prioritise contact. We are doing all we can. Thank you for your patience.

We regret we are not operating as normal. Further updates to follow.”

The breach left thousands of Purplebricks’s users unable to complete or proceed with their transactions. While Simplify restored their systems on the 15th November, many homesellers were unable to get their sales back on track for many weeks more.

### eWay

If you’ve sold with Purplebricks conveyancers (Premier Property Lawyers) or have used any of Simplify’s other conveyancing firms, you’ll have used __eWay__. eWay is an online case management software which allows customers to track their property transactions through their phones or desktops. Important documentation can be signed over the phone, while conveyancer’s contact details can be accessed at the drop of a hat. eWay was one of the platforms affected by the Simplify data breach.

## Are Purplebricks conveyancers registered with the Law Society? 

__Yes__. According to the Law Society, Premier Property Lawyers are not regulated by the Solicitor Regulation Authority. But, they *are* regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. 

## How much do Purplebricks charge for conveyancing?

Purplebricks __don’t charge for conveyancing directly__ but you may be charged an __admin fee of around £360__. They refer you to their preferred legal services provider and collect commission. The amount quoted by Premier Property Lawyers will depend on the type and location of the property you are selling. They’ll also take into account whether you’re buying as well as selling. 

You are not obligated to use their conveyancing service if you choose to pay the Purplebricks fee upfront. However, if you choose their ‘Pay Later’ option, you’ll need to use Purplebricks' conveyancer.

> ‘If at any time you have agreed to take advantage of the Conveyancing Services and thereafter withdraw, fail or refuse to use the Conveyancing Services you will be required to pay Administration Charges once you agree a sale of your property.’

According to Property Industry Eye, **Purplebricks receives a commission payment of £382.85+VAT from every individual** they pass on to Premier Property Lawyers. You can expect this amount to be added onto any quote offered. 

If you decide you don’t want to work with Purplebricks’ preferred conveyancer, you’ll have to pay an ‘administrative fee’. It’s unclear on their website exactly what this amount will be. Various sources suggest it __is around £360__ - essentially the same amount as the referral fee. If you’ve chosen deferred payment, and then sell your property with a different Estate Agent, you are still bound by this agreement to use their conveyancers or pay the fee.

## Purplebricks conveyancing reviews

As of 25th of January 2021, Purplebricks has a __rating of 4.5/5__ on Trustpilot and you can read our own [review of Purplebricks here](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/purplebricks-review). Most reviews are positive but some of the negative reviews highlight problems specific to their conveyancers, Premier Property Lawyers.

![Purplebricks conveyancing Review 1](//images.ctfassets.net/us6n8ous4bz0/4hLGHiGemrWcVM2iOsaz8y/9013906f906cbf909c2b638bfbaf51d3/purplebricks-review-1.png)

![Purplebricks conveyancing review 2](//images.ctfassets.net/us6n8ous4bz0/5z4q9TpCD2slKxDkeukzSb/b06bacc9b40f1e7f74a2e8f02c67405b/purplebricks-review-2.png)

Poor reviews of Premier Property Lawyers tend to focus on **poor communication and delays.** It seems common to wait several months to complete a sale. Sellers often report having to repeatedly call in order to move things forward. Although Premier Property Lawyers claim you will have a personal case handler, many complainants note difficulty in contacting their appointed representative. 

Even fairly positive reviews of Purplebricks suggest there are problems with Premier Property Lawyers. One (pictured below) describes how they (PPL) had ‘spoilt the whole process’ by making a very straightforward sale last over six months.

![Purplebricks conveyancing review 4](//images.ctfassets.net/us6n8ous4bz0/1kPhFDWM5wVWvkBqd5sYPj/54fc55b28ed3607c24c13cc12d6437d0/purplebricks-review-4.png)

On the other hand, most positive reviews of Purplebricks describe using their conveyancing services without any complaints. However, in these reviews much of the focus is on the estate agents rather than PPL.

![Purplebricks conveyancing review 3](//images.ctfassets.net/us6n8ous4bz0/xhzxkedzt4zSuNtRHxuQ1/a10d9bd1f534f8b7b8e91b0475747ff3/purplebricks-review-3.png)

## Should I use Purplebricks conveyancing?

You shouldn't use Purplebricks conveyancing if you are looking for a speedy completion. Premier Property Lawyers are probably not the best option for you based on the reviews and feedback from people who have used them in the past that we mentioned above. 

The need to pay an ‘administrative fee’ could be a contributing factor in deciding to work with Premier Property Lawyers regardless. Especially if you don’t know which conveyancing firms are the best for you. 

However, GetAgent’s research found that Purplebricks [completed on just 57% of its listings*.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/estate-agents/online-estate-agents-vs-high-street) We found that many customers eventually chose to appoint a traditional high street estate agent to sell their property. Not only do home sellers in this position have to pay both [Purplebricks’ fee](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/online-agents/purplebricks-money-back-guarantee-review) and their new estate agents commission, but if they chose the Pay Later option, they are also tied into using Premier Property Lawyers, **even if they sell with the new agent.**

> ‘It is a condition of Pay Later that you agree to instruct the Conveyancing Services to act on your behalf once a sale is agreed with a purchaser and you hereby agree that you will irrevocably instruct the Conveyancing Services to make payment in full of the Product Service Fee to Purplebricks or any third party entitled to collect payment of the Product Service Fee’

The best option, if you’ve decided to instruct Purplebricks, is to pay their fee upfront. This will allow you to compare their conveyancing services and fees with other local lawyers and give you an opportunity to pick a lawyer best suited to your needs, saving you time and money in the long run. 

[For more advice on how to find a trustworthy conveyancer, check out our tips here.](https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/how-to-find-trustworthy-solicitor)

__See how long conveyancing should take in the current market__

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purplebricks-conveyancing.jpg

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