The Voice of the Agent Podcast

What does a good lettings business look like in 2026? In this episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, Toby Martin is joined by Sophie Lang, co-owner of multi-award-winning Lang Llewellyn & Co, to go deep on the realities of running — and growing — a lettings business in the year ahead. Using fresh insight from the January Voice of the Agent report, the conversation explores why landlord numbers are proving more resilient than headlines suggest, how agents are turning the Renters’ Rights Act into a growth opportunity, and why education — not fear — is the key to winning new instructions. Sophie shares practical, hard-earned experience on converting self-managing landlords, managing expectations around rents, and why many landlords exiting the market are being replaced by a more professional, business-minded generation. The episode also tackles some of the industry’s most uncomfortable questions: 🏠 Is 10% really enough for full management? 📉 Why let-only services may be living on borrowed time 📈 How acquisitions can outperform organic growth 🧠 What makes a lettings book genuinely valuable ⚖️ And how to future-proof your business without panic This is a candid, experience-led discussion for lettings professionals who want clarity, not chaos — and a reminder that while 2026 will bring change, it also brings opportunity for agents who are prepared. 📊 Download the full January Voice of the Agent report here: https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/thevoiceoftheagent

Estate agents don’t need more tech, they need less friction. In this episode, Simon is joined by Victoria Lambden, Business Development Lead at GlueDog (and a former estate agent who’s lived the spreadsheet-and-duplicate-data nightmare). Together they unpack why so many agencies keep adding tools… yet don’t see the output improve, and how the real unlock is integration. You’ll hear Victoria’s “traffic light” way of spotting bottlenecks, why integration is finally shifting from “nice-to-have” to non-negotiable, and what proptech should feel like when it’s working properly: it disappears into the background. They also get into: ✅ PropTech overload (and how to audit your stack without losing the plot) ✅ Why teams use less than 50% of their CRM ✅ Training, adoption, morale, and the human side of tech change ✅ AI in agency: brilliant assistant, terrible replacement agent If you’re still typing the same address 16 times into 4 systems, this is a must listen.

What’s actually happening in the property market — and how do agents really feel about 2026? In this episode of The Voice of the Agent, Toby Martin and Simon Leadbetter unpack the January 2026 Voice of the Agent report, focusing on residential sales and lettings, and cutting through the noise to reveal what the data really says. They explore agent confidence, transaction levels, fees, competition, and growth expectations — and why the market feels cautious on the surface, yet quietly optimistic underneath. You’ll hear why many agents grew in 2025 despite negative headlines, what the data reveals about house prices and rental values in 2026, and where the biggest opportunities (and risks) lie for agency owners right now. The conversation also digs into the structural realities of estate agency: 🏠 Why sales-only businesses remain exposed 🔁 Why lettings still underpin long-term business value 💰 How fees really work across price brackets ⚔️ Just how competitive most local markets actually are 📈 And why finding new vendors and landlords remains the industry’s biggest challenge This episode is less about predictions, and more about perspective. If you want to understand where you sit relative to your peers, and how to use insight rather than instinct to guide decisions in 2026, this one’s essential listening. 📊 The full report is available free on the Unchained website 📩 Subscribe to the newsletter to receive future reports early

What if you could understand who lives in a property before you even walk through the front door? In this special episode of the Voice of the Agent Podcast, we share a standout clip recorded live at the Voice of the Agent Conference at Bletchley Park, featuring Ben Nicholas, Head of Property and Real Estate at Experian, in conversation with Simon Leadbetter. Ben reveals how Experian Mosaic uses household-level data to build a far deeper picture of the people behind the properties — from lifestyle and behaviour, to communication preferences and likely next moves. In one jaw-dropping moment, Ben describes how Mosaic accurately predicted his own age, family setup, home type, and shopping habits… just from his address. The conversation explores why property has lagged behind other industries in adopting this kind of customer insight, how agents can move from property-led to people-led marketing, and why understanding your audience makes everything you do more relevant, more efficient, and more effective. After the clip, Toby returns to explain how Unchained has partnered with Experian to make this level of insight accessible to estate and letting agents — without the traditional corporate-level price tag — and how combining customer insight with AI can supercharge your marketing. The Voice of the Agent, full live videos: https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/tvota-2025-video Unchained CustomerDNA Reports: https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/unchained-customer-dna

Estate agency is a trust business… and whether we like it or not, trust often gets decided before you’ve even said hello. In this episode, Simon Leadbetter is joined by Alex Wood of Alexandra Wood Bespoke — the first female Savile Row tailor and a “menswear visionary” who’s built a modern luxury brand in a world of tradition, hierarchy, and (let’s be honest) a lot of blokes. They get into: 🧠 Why first impressions still matter in 2026 (even if you hate shopping) 🧥 How to look credible, modern and human — without trying too hard 👔 Suits vs hoodies, ties vs open collars… and the real crime: the badly fitting suit 🧳 Capsule wardrobes, decision fatigue, and why “quality costs less” over time 🎯 Dressing authentically: finding “you” rather than copying a trend 🌟 Plus: who Alex would most love to tailor for (hello Idris 👀) 📚 Pre-order Alex’s book at alexandrawoodbespoke.co.uk And don’t forget to subscribe to Voice of the Agent on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts for more data-led insights, guest experts, and conference highlights.

Why does buying or selling a home still feel harder than it should? And if conveyancing causes so many delays, why don’t we just… remove it from the equation? In this episode of the Voice of the Agent podcast, we drop you straight into one of the most talked-about moments from the Voice of the Agent Conference at Bletchley Park. It’s a live panel debate exploring the relationship between estate agents and conveyancers, what’s broken in the home-moving process, and what “best practice” actually looks like when everyone’s under pressure. Hosted by David Opie, the panel brings together Clare Yates, Matt Baldock and Simon Thomas, representing frontline agency, legal expertise and customer experience. Things really heat up when Russell Quirk throws a hand grenade of a question into the room: if other countries can complete transactions in weeks, why are we still stuck with a system that takes six months — and should estate agents just do the whole job themselves? After the clip, Toby Martin unpacks what you’ve just heard and connects it to the hard data from Part Four of the Voice of the Agent Report, revealing how long transactions really take, where communication breaks down, who consumers blame when things go wrong, and what the minority of smooth-moving chains are doing differently. If you’re an agent, a conveyancer, a lender, or someone currently stuck in a chain wondering why nothing has moved for weeks, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar — and genuinely useful. You can download the Voice of the Agent Reports for free at https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/thevoiceoftheagent

Stop what you are doing and complete the survey for January's Voice of the Agent Report: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TVOTAJan2026 The survey is only open for a short time, so don't delay - complete it today!

What if you could see around corners and spot shifts in consumer behaviour years before they show up in your pipeline? In this episode of Voice of the Agent, Simon is joined by Will Ullstein, UK CEO of YouGov, to unpack what their data is really telling us about Gen Z, tomorrow’s consumer, and what that means for the property industry. They discuss why your own customer data will only ever tell part of the story, how nationally representative research fills in the gaps, and the very real strategic risk of running your business purely on gut feel and portal dashboards. Will explains how YouGov’s panel works (including why people happily share Netflix viewing and bank data), how even a single omnibus question can unlock a full 360° picture of your ideal customer, and why research is no longer just for big brands with six-figure budgets. They also dive into AI: from using it to analyse open-ended responses in seconds, to YouGov’s new AI interviewer and data-driven personas that let you “talk” to your target audience before you spend a penny on campaigns. Simon and Will also tease a new collaboration designed to give independent estate and letting agents access to serious YouGov and Experian firepower at an entry-level price – plus there’s time for pillow-fight stats, beans on toast, and the surprisingly wobbly career path from failed actor to CEO. If you care about where the market is heading, how Gen Z will reshape expectations, and how to make better decisions with proper evidence rather than hunches, this conversation is a must-listen. Follow the podcast, hit play, and if you enjoy it, leave a review so more agents can find the show.

It’s Christmas Eve, and instead of diving into Voice of the Agent data, Toby Martin and Simon Leadbetter are taking a festive detour into the numbers behind the Great British Christmas. Expect the big debates (Father Christmas vs Santa, and yes… Die Hard), the nation’s favourite film and song, what’s really happening on Christmas dinner plates, and the surprising truth about family arguments. Along the way, Simon gets gently interrogated about the Leadbetter household traditions, Toby tries to keep things vaguely on-brand (with mixed results), and together they attempt to define what a “statistically perfect” Christmas actually looks like. Merry Christmas - may your sprouts be optional and your data be judgemental. Some links referred to in this episode... 🎸 The Story of Fairy Tale of New York: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUSNzqqLFT0 🐈 Mog's Christmas Calamity (Sainsbury's ad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRn2S7iPNU 🪖 1914 (Sainsbury's ad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWF2JBb1bvM

In this special end-of-year episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, Toby Martin and Simon Leadbetter reflect on a transformative year in the property industry. They discuss the key findings from the recently released Part 5 of the Voice of the Agent report, which encapsulates insights from our inaugural conference at Bletchley Park and surveys agent sentiments heading into 2026. With discussions ranging from economic challenges and marketing strategies to the impact of AI on estate agency, Simon and Toby unpack the evolving landscape and what it means for agents. Join Simon and Toby, as they share valuable takeaways and look forward to the exciting changes ahead in our monthly reporting format! You can download the Voice of the Agent Report for free from https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/thevoiceoftheagent

In this special edition of the Voice of the Agent podcast, we’re taking you inside the room at the Voice of the Agent Conference for a live keynote from one of the UK’s leading property experts: Kate Faulkner OBE. If there were a National Curriculum for estate agency, this talk would be on page one. Kate brings the kind of clarity, passion and data-backed insight that cuts straight through the headlines and tells the real story of the UK housing market — how we got here, what we’ve misunderstood, and what absolutely has to change. In this episode, Toby introduces a powerful five-minute clip from Kate’s keynote, recorded at Bletchley Park just weeks after she returned to the stage following knee surgery — with all the energy to prove it. You’ll hear a section of Kate’s talk that had agents in the room leaning forward and furiously taking notes. And if you want the full 30-minute keynote, along with every session from the conference, you can now watch the complete on-demand film at weareunchained.co.uk. Coming up in this new conference-series format: Heather Staff, Will Ullstein (YouGov), Phill Agnew (Nudge podcast), The Prime Market Panel, and more. Follow the show to catch the next instalment.

What happens to estate agency when AI stops being a novelty and starts rewriting how people find homes? In this episode of Voice of the Agent, Simon sits down with Mal McCallion, founder of MyPorta and ModelProp, and a key figure behind PrimeLocation and Zoopla, to explore whether AI-driven property discovery could fundamentally reshape the market — and what that means for Rightmove, for portals, and for agents everywhere. Mal shares what he learned from helping build the early portals, why the traditional filter-based search model is about to feel as outdated as newspaper property pages, and how AI will allow people to describe their ideal lifestyle rather than tick boxes. He also reflects on the Rightmove Resistance Tour, the surprising human stories he heard from agents across the country, and why he believes the bulk-subscription, pay-to-list model is living on borrowed time. They dig into MyPorta’s vision for a free-to-list, AI-optimised platform that gives agents control of their leads and data, how consumer behaviour is changing at speed, and why AI literacy is set to become a core skill for every successful agent. If you're curious about the future of property search, the role AI will play, or how the portal landscape could shift over the next five years, this is a fascinating and timely conversation. Listen now, hit Follow, and if you enjoy it, leave us a review so more agents can discover the show.

In this episode, Toby Martin breaks down the key insights from Part 4 of The Voice of the Agent 2025 report — how consumers are really finding property, what they think about stamp duty, which brands they trust, and why the agent–conveyancer relationship is becoming the industry’s biggest bottleneck. We also explore the rise of AI in property search: from under 1% usage today to potential mainstream adoption within the next decade, and what that means for portals, agent websites, and the future of the customer journey. A fast, data-led look at the trends every estate agent needs to understand in 2025.

Simon Leadbetter of We Are Unchained sits down with Steve Eakins from Lumon following The Voice of the Agents Conference, held on 7 November at Bletchley Park. In this episode, Simon and Steve dive into the world of foreign exchange rates, currency volatility, and brokerage, unpacking how these financial dynamics directly impact today’s estate agents and agencies. From international buyers to cross-border transactions, they explore the real risks, the opportunities, and what agents need to know right now. Whether you're an agent looking to protect your pipeline from FX fluctuations or simply want to understand how currency affects the UK property market, this conversation offers clear, actionable insight. Chat with Steve Eakins To speak with Steve directly, click the link below: 👉 https://wa.me/447919230666?text=Just%... Learn more about Lumon 👉 https://www.lumonpay.com/

Simon Leadbetter sits down with Phill Agnew, Host of Nudge, the UK’s #1 Marketing Podcast, to explore various topics such as ethical marketing, behavioural science, and what it really means to understand your audience. In this episode, Simon and Phill dive into: • Ethical marketing and whether we’re truly benefiting the user • Behavioural psychology and how it shapes buyer decisions • Contacting buyers before viewings, why timing and context matter • How to speak to your audience in a way that actually resonates • The fine line between persuasion and manipulation It’s a thoughtful, practical conversation for anyone looking to communicate more effectively, market more responsibly, and understand the people they’re trying to reach. Phill's reading list reference in the podcast: https://nudge.kit.com/reading-list 🎧 Listen to Phill’s podcast, Nudge: Apple: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0zpOldE9YMNYN1QiL7EBfS

Nearly two-thirds of an average UK estate agent’s marketing budget disappears into portals and most of them can’t explain why. In this explosive panel top industry minds call out one of the biggest financial blind spots in the property game. From the myth of social media as strategy to the untapped power of PR, this episode unpacks what real marketing looks like and why agents who get it are pulling ahead. COVERED TOPICS Why portals are a utility, not marketing The shocking 10.4% stat for all non-portal marketing Why agents still think social media is a strategy The hidden ROI of PR and why no one’s using it How high-growth agents spend and win Why your CFO is killing your pipeline Brand vs lead gen vs product marketing Long-term trust vs short-term wins Zero-based budgeting for smarter marketing decisions Why listings are only step one Marketing mistakes that cost agents millions #EstateAgentMarketing #VoiceOfTheAgent #PRNotPortals #RealEstateMistakes #MarketingROI #TrustAndBrand #UnchainedThinking #AgentGrowth #UKPropertyIndustry

In this episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, titled "EP.6: The Mental Health Crisis in Estate Agency," we dive into the pressing issue of mental health within the estate agency industry. With 42% of agents reporting mental health challenges in 2023, the discussion highlights the intense pressures from both within and outside the industry. I explore how social media exacerbates stress and the importance of recognizing and addressing mental health issues. We discuss the role of organizations like Agents Together and Property Mark Trust in providing support and mentorship. The episode emphasizes the need for open conversations, self-awareness, and the importance of seeking help. Join me as we unpack these critical issues and explore solutions for a healthier work-life balance in estate agency.

In this no-holds-barred episode, we tackle the uncomfortable truth: Anyone can sell your home no license, no qualifications, no accountability. We break down exclusive survey data from The Voice of the Agent 2025, revealing that 4 in 5 agents and consumers want regulation… yet 17% of agents don’t want to be regulated or qualified at all.Russell Quirk and the panel expose why this matters not just for standards, but for trust, fees, and the future of the industry. Topics covered: Why estate agency is still the Wild West The link between qualifications and higher fees Why consumers expect more and aren’t getting it Should unqualified agents be shut down? Could better training finally raise the bar? #EstateAgentsUK #VoiceOfTheAgent #UKProperty #RealEstateReform #PropertyQualifications #RaisingStandards #HousingMarket #UKHousingCrisis #RegulationNow #ProfessionalEstateAgents #PropertyPolitics #UnlicensedToSell #LettingAgents #TrainingMatters #RER #PropertyFees #EstateAgencyTruths

In this episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, I delve into the complexities of the UK housing crisis, exploring why politicians and housebuilders continue to fall short. With 14 years of missed opportunities, the housing market remains dominated by just 10 companies, leaving a significant deficit in home construction. I discuss the political motivations that hinder effective solutions and propose the creation of a national house-building corporation to address the crisis. Joined by Russell Quirk and Simon Whale, we debate potential strategies, including the use of public land and citizens' assemblies, to overcome the challenges of planning, land sourcing, and market dynamics. Tune in for an insightful discussion on the future of UK housing.

In this episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, I dive into the overwhelming world of PropTech with industry experts Simon Leadbetter and Simon Whale. We explore why estate agents are feeling swamped by technology and the persistent issue of integration, which has topped surveys for two consecutive years. With insights from a survey of over 800 agents, we discuss the challenges of multiple systems, the need for seamless integration, and the importance of collaboration among PropTech suppliers. We also touch on the resistance to adopting new technologies and how it impacts the industry. Join us as we uncover the potential of PropTech to transform estate agencies and the critical role of CRM systems in driving success.

In this episode, we speak with Elaine Penhaul from Lemon & Lime Interiors to unpack the UK’s staging crisis. We explore hard data from Voice of the Agent 2024 and challenge the industry’s excuses for ignoring what should be standard practice. Topics Covered: Why agents undervalue home staging What 10 years of staging data reveals about sale speed and price How staging impacts fees, perception, and personal branding Real strategies for agents to sell more, faster with or without a budget #EstateAgency #HomeStaging #VoiceOfTheAgent #UKProperty #RealEstateMarketing #WeAreUnchained #Lettings #SellingHomes #LemonAndLimeInteriors #Podcast

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Voice of the Agent Podcast, where we dive into the intriguing world of AI and its impact on estate agents. In EP.1: AI vs Estate Agents: What’s Really at Risk?, I explore the transformative role AI is playing in the real estate industry. With insights from industry leaders, we discuss how 44% of estate agents are already using AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance existing processes, from content production to data analysis. We debate the potential of AI to revolutionize property evaluations, customer service, and marketing, while also considering the challenges of maintaining personal connections in a tech-driven future. Join me as we navigate the delicate balance between embracing AI advancements and preserving the human touch in real estate.