The recent housing market decline has forced The Modern House, an upmarket estate agency, to lay off up to 25% of its workforce in a bid to reduce costs after growing rapidly during the pandemic.
The claim has been made by The Guardian newspaper over the weekend, which says The Modern House has made the cuts owing to the slowdown in the sales market.
The Modern House grew quickly during the pandemic. According to Companies House filings, the London-based estate agency had 26 employees in 2019, shortly before Covid struck. By early 2022 this had climbed to 59, and it is thought the number of employees hit between 75 and 80 earlier this year.
The company’s website appears to confirm that its headcount has recently been cut from 61 to 44 people, with The Guardian claiming that a number of redundancies have been made at the company in recent weeks. EYE has contacted The Modern House for comment.
The Modern House, set up in 2005 by two friends, Albert Hill and Matt Gibberd, is one of a number of estate agencies laying off workers or changing hands as rising interest rates and the cost of living crisis squeeze the sector and fuel worries about a possible house price crash.
Knight Frank recently initiated a redundancy consultation process with staff and had indicated that up to 3% of roles were at risk.
Knight Frank plans mass job cuts amid downturn in UK housing market
