KALMARs

What KALMARs does

KALMARs is a third-generation, family-owned estate agency headquartered at 2 Shad Thames, London, serving residential and commercial property clients across South London. Founded in 1967, the firm offers residential sales, residential lettings, commercial sales, commercial lettings, and specialized services across industrial, retail, office, and development property segments. The company operates through two registered UK private limited entities — KALMARs Residential Ltd and KALMARs Commercial Ltd — with family principals Richard Kalmar and Sebastian Kalmar active alongside a small team of commercial agents.

The business runs on a traditional estate agency model with a website-based property listing platform at kalmars.com supported by Agency Pilot CRM (powered by Alcium) for client, applicant, and supplier data, and Cloudscape for IT security. Revenue is generated through transaction-based commissions on residential and commercial property sales, plus a recurring commission on residential lettings of 10% of annual rent plus VAT (minimum £1,500 + VAT). Reference checks are outsourced to Rent4sure. Tenant fee billing was eliminated following the 1 June 2019 tenant fee ban. The firm holds five consecutive wins of the Most Active Southbank Agent award and publishes 24+ South London area guides, market reports, blogs, and videos to support lead generation.

Customer segments include residential buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, commercial tenants and purchasers, individual and institutional property investors, and developers seeking sites across South London. The firm claims relationships with "nearly all major property companies in the country" alongside a long tail of individual clients. Headcount sits in the 11–50 band, and revenue is not publicly disclosed. No external funding, M&A, or public listing is evidenced.

Name

KALMARs

Legal name

KALMARs Commercial Ltd and KALMARs Residential Ltd

Website

https://kalmars.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KALMARs is a third-generation, family-owned South London estate agency founded in 1967, offering residential and commercial sales, lettings, valuations, and development services to buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, investors, and developers across 24+ South London neighborhoods.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Agency Services

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312), Real Estate Property Managers (53131)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Single-Family Rental (SFR) Property Management (BPAJAFAB)

Keywords

• Residential property sales
• Commercial property lettings
• Estate agency services
• Property management
• Real estate advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Residential Lettings Commission: KALMARs charges residential landlords 10% of the annual rent plus VAT (minimum £1,500 + VAT) for property marketing and tenant sourcing. This is a recurring commission-based model for each new tenancy.
2. Property Sales Commission: Commission from property sales transactions for both residential and commercial properties across South London.
3. Commercial Lettings: Commercial property letting services generating commission revenue from office, industrial, retail, and development property transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

KALMARs is a South London estate agency offering residential property sales and lettings, as well as commercial property sales and lettings covering offices, retail, industrial, and development properties. The firm also provides free property valuations, market reports, and area guides for South London neighborhoods. Established in 1967, the third-generation family business operates through two entities: KALMARs Residential Ltd and KALMARs Commercial Ltd.

Product overview

KALMARs operates as a unified estate agency offering residential and commercial property services across South London. The core offering consists of residential property sales and lettings, complemented by commercial property sales and lettings covering industrial, retail, office, and development properties. Additional services include free property valuations and area guides. The company does not operate a modular software platform but rather provides traditional estate agency services through physical offices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Property Sales

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Property Redress SchemecoreOthersKALMARs Residential is a registered member of The Property Redress Scheme, providing independent dispute resolution for clients.
• The Property Ombudsman (TPOS)coreOthersIndependent review body for complaint escalation if clients remain dissatisfied after KALMARs' final response. Clients can refer complaints within 12 months.
• Agency Pilot (powered by Alcium)coreTechnology or IntegrationCRM and database system used to hold client, applicant, and supplier data. Alcium is a specialist agent and local authority database software provider.
• CloudscapecoreTechnology or IntegrationIT consultants responsible for maintaining firewall and security systems on KALMARs' database.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Savills: Global real estate services firm with a London office covering residential sales, lettings, commercial, and investment advisory. Comparable to KALMARs across commercial and residential agency, but operates as a much larger, full-service incumbent with global reach.
• Countrywide (Connells Group): One of the UK's largest estate agency and property services groups (now part of Connells Group), with extensive London and UK-wide coverage. Comparable to KALMARs in core agency services but operates at a vastly larger national scale with multiple brands.
• Knight Frank: Global premium real estate advisory with strong London presence across residential, commercial, and development agency. Comparable to KALMARs' commercial and high-value residential business, but operates at a much broader scale and offers a wider services portfolio.

Direct peers

• Chestertons: Established London estate agency providing residential sales, lettings, and property management plus commercial services. Comparable to KALMARs in service mix (residential + commercial) and London focus, with a similarly premium positioning.
• Foxtons: London-focused estate agency offering residential sales, lettings, and mortgage services. Directly comparable to KALMARs in core offerings (residential and commercial agency) and geographic focus, though at significantly larger scale and with a national/regional brand presence.
• Winkworth: Franchise-based London estate agency specializing in residential sales and lettings across multiple London neighborhoods. Comparable to KALMARs in local-market expertise and residential-focused service model with similar geographic concentration in London.
• Dexters: London-based estate agency with strong South and Central London presence, offering residential sales, lettings, and new homes services. Directly comparable as a London-focused multi-branch agency serving similar buyer/seller segments.
• Hamptons (Hamptons International): Premium London and South East estate agency offering residential sales, lettings, and new homes. Comparable to KALMARs in target clientele (premium properties) and London/South East geographic focus, though operating at a larger scale.

Emerging players

• Purplebricks: Hybrid online estate agency offering fixed-fee sales services across the UK. Comparable to KALMARs as a competing residential agency model, but differentiated by its digital-first, low-commission approach that pressures traditional high-street agents.

Others

• Rightmove: UK's largest property portal connecting agents, buyers, sellers, and renters. Indirectly comparable to KALMARs as a digital channel/marketing partner that drives listing traffic to traditional agencies, but not a direct competitor as it does not provide agency services itself.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kalmarsltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KALMARs