Agency cuts ribbon on third lettings office, despite stamp duty worries

An East Midlands estate agency has opened its third lettings office, saying the rental market has 'defied expectations'.

Richard Watkinson and Partners, which now has eight offices across the East Midlands, recently opened a dedicated lettings branch in Nottingham.

The firm already had lettings offices in Newark and Bingham and the strength of the rental market encouraged it to extend its offering into the East Midlands city. 

Despite concerns that the introduction of a stamp duty surcharge in April would ward off investors, the agency says that has not been the case at all. 

"We have a dedicated lettings office in Newark and a well-established department in Bingham – both of which are extremely busy and we'd been inundated with enquiries here in Nottingham so decided to open a third lettings arm to the business,” one of the firm's directors, Amy Tillson, told the Nottingham Post .

"The sheer density of properties in the city, along with the high volume of rentals has meant that we've already moved our first happy clients into new properties.” 

“The whole process has been very smooth and I'm very happy with how quickly we've been able to support growing demand," she said.

Tillson will be heading up the new office alongside the agency's lettings coordinator, Kelly Bertin, who set up the Bingham office in 2008.