A group of the leading property solicitors have demonstrated their confidence in the future of the housing market by opening their first joint estate agency office.
The ELPG – made up of the five leading solicitor-estate agency firms from across Edinburgh and the Lothians – said the move allows both buyers and sellers to benefit from the group’s combined strength as well as putting hundreds of their properties on display in one location.
The new property shop in East Lothian is a landmark move for the ELPG, which includes Warners, Neilsons, Drummond Miller, The Lints Partnership and Leslie Deans & Co and who account for around 25% of all properties sold in Edinburgh.
Russell Bruce, who is running the office in Haddington’s Main Street on behalf of the ELPG, said: “This is the first time a select group of solicitors has come together to form a joint venture like this, so it is a very exciting development.
“The base will allow buyers the chance to view more than 1300 homes and flats on databases of the five ELPG members from across East Lothian. No one else in the region can offer that kind of marketing opportunity.
“That’s good news for buyers as they know they need only go to one place to view the best properties in East Lothian. And it’s good news for sellers as they have a superb platform for their properties to be sold.
“Although all of the firms work together as part of the ELPG, they still have their own offices in Edinburgh. However, this property shop will give the ELPG a stronghold in East Lothian and allow them to work together to achieve success for both buyers and sellers during these difficult times for the housing market.
“The ELPG members all realised how strategically important East Lothian is in terms of its proximity to Edinburgh and the fact that many people commute to the Capital to work. The firms all sell properties in the region but, until now, the group has not had an actual physical presence in the area.
“The property shop has only been up and running for a short time but we have been very busy so far. Many people are coming in to see what we’re all about and have been looking at properties from across all of the five member firms.
“We also have a few other initiatives in the pipeline, which we hope will make this venture one of the most innovative estate agencies in East Lothian.”
John Lints, of The Lints Partnership, said the group had opted to name the property shop Allied Property Solicitors – rather than create the office under the ELPG banner – to show that the venture was a new direction for the five firms.
He said: “This is five of the biggest property solicitors in the Edinburgh and Lothians coming together to set up a bold and ambitious venture, despite all of the turmoil that is taking place in the property market.
“We’re proud to say that we have had the confidence in the current climate to actually go ahead and open a new office. That is a measure of how much we firmly believe that we will get through the current difficulties and that anyone buying and selling should not be influenced by all the negative headlines.
“We considered branding the shop under the ELPG logo, but realised that we needed a different name to show that this was a completely new initiative.
“Although our property schedules are still branded under each of the individual firms, we expect to have them all under the APS logo in the coming months.
“If this venture proves as successful as we envisage, we hope that there will be other Allied Property Solicitors offices opening up in the years to come.”
ENDS
Issued on behalf of the ELPG by the Holyrood PR. For more information, contact Adrian Mather on 0131 561 2244 or info@holyroodpr.co.uk
