What Smart Move does

Smart Move is a London-based estate agency and property consultancy founded in 2004, operating three offices across North and Central London — Mayfair (84 Brook Street, W1K 5EH), Enfield, and a forthcoming Central London head office — with a workforce of 101-250 employees. The company targets four primary customer segments: residential buyers and sellers, tenants and renters, and landlords, with a secondary B2G segment providing affordable housing services to local authorities in North London. Its core offering is a unified residential property services platform spanning sales, lettings, and full-service management.

The product portfolio rests on three pillars. Residential sales are delivered through a sales-led motion featuring free valuations, professional photography, accompanied viewings, and negotiated offers, generating 1.5-3% commissions on completion depending on London geography (Inner vs. Outer) and agency structure. Lettings operate on a three-tier recurring model: full management at 14% of rent, let-only with rent collection at 12%, and management-only at 7.2% (with a £600 handover fee). The differentiated product is a Guaranteed Rent Management service under which Smart Move leases the property from the landlord and pays rent regardless of tenant occupancy on 3-5 year terms. Supporting add-ons include rent protection and legal cover insurance (third-party licensed), online mortgage and stamp duty calculators, and a free property valuation funnel. The underlying technology is standard for the sector: a branded website with property search, syndicated listings to national property portals, and basic self-serve calculators, with no proprietary platform IP disclosed.

Revenue is a hybrid of transaction-based sales commissions and recurring percentage-of-rent management fees, with supplementary licensing/royalty income from third-party insurance products. The GTM motion is sales-led: professional consultants conduct valuations, accompany viewings, and operate six days a week with out-of-hours appointments. Distribution is primarily through the three physical offices and property portal listings, with a stated international affiliation layer for overseas clients. Smart Move holds the standard UK estate-agency compliance stack — Property Ombudsman, Safe Agent (Client Money Protection), ARLA Propertymark, TDS, and My Deposit — and is privately held with no disclosed revenue, funding rounds, ownership structure, or headcount trends.

Name

Smart Move

Legal name

Smart Move

Website

https://smartmove.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Smart Move is a London-based estate agency and property consultancy operating three offices across North and Central London, providing residential sales, tiered lettings and management services, and a guaranteed-rent product to individual buyers, sellers, tenants, and landlords.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Edmonton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Lettings and Management Fees: Percentage-based fees on rental income for the duration of tenant occupation, including day-to-day management, repairs, safety checks, and emergency services
2. Letting and Rent Collection: Percentage-based fees for tenant sourcing and rent collection services without full property management
3. Management-Only Services: Percentage-based fees for property management services only, with a one-time handover fee
4. Property Sales Commissions: Percentage-based commissions on property sales in Inner London (2-3%) and Outer London (1.5-2.5%) markets, charged on completion
5. Rent Protection and Legal Cover Insurance: Third-party insurance products offered to landlords through specialist providers, providing tenant referencing, credit checks, and rent guarantee coverage

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Smart Move is a London-based residential estate agency providing property valuation, marketing, accompanied viewings, and negotiation for residential sales, alongside tenant sourcing, rent collection, and full management services for lettings. It also offers a guaranteed rent leasing scheme, landlord rent protection and legal cover insurance, and dedicated housing services for local authorities across North and Central London.

Product overview

Smart Move is a London-based estate agency offering a unified property services platform. The core offering spans three main areas: Residential Sales (facilitated through property valuation, professional photography, and marketing), Lettings (with three service tiers: Let Only, Rent Collection, and Full Management), and Property Management. Key differentiated services include Guaranteed Rent Management (a lease-based product where landlords receive 100% guaranteed rent with no void periods) and Rent Protection & Legal Cover Insurance. Supporting tools include free property valuation, mortgage calculator, and stamp duty calculator. The company operates across North and Central London with offices in Mayfair and Enfield.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Sales Estate agency service facilitating the sale of residential properties in North and Central London, including property valuation, professional photography and floorplans, marketing across major property portals, accompanied viewings, and offer negotiation. Targets individual residential property sellers and their families looking to maximise sale price in London's prime and broader markets.
• Lettings and Rent Collection Tenant sourcing, marketing, viewings, tenant referencing, and ongoing rent collection service for landlords in North and Central London, priced at 12% of rent (24% for short lets with a £1,000 minimum fee). Targets individual landlords and property investors seeking to outsource the front-end of placing tenants and the back-end rent collection.
• Full Property Management Service Comprehensive property management for landlords covering day-to-day maintenance, repairs, utility management, health and safety compliance, safety checks, emergency out-of-hours service, tenancy agreement renewals, and end-of-tenancy processes, priced at 14% of rent (30% for short lets with a £1,200 minimum fee). Targets landlords in North and Central London wanting hands-off operational management of their rental property.
• Guaranteed Rent Management Landlord-facing product in which Smart Move leases the property directly from the owner and pays a fixed monthly rent regardless of tenant occupancy or void periods, typically on a 3-5 year lease basis with no commission fees. Targets landlords who prioritise rental income certainty over yield maximisation.
• Rent Protection and Legal Cover Insurance Insurance product protecting landlords from rental income loss due to tenant default, including tenant referencing, credit checks, legal expense coverage, and rent guarantee. Brokered through specialist third-party providers. Targets landlords seeking to mitigate the risk of tenant default and associated legal costs.
• Local Authorities Housing Services Housing services for local authorities in North London providing affordable properties ranging from studio flats to family homes, with full property management delivered on behalf of the council for local authority tenants. Targets local authority housing teams needing managed affordable housing stock.
• Free Property Valuation Free no-obligation property valuation service delivered by Smart Move's property consultants to determine market value for prospective sellers and landlords, structured as a short online form followed by a consultation. Targets individual sellers and landlords considering listing with Smart Move and acts as a lead-generation entry point into the full sales or letting service.

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieves 97% of asking price for every property sold

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Property Ombudsman Redress SchemecoreOthersSmart Move is a member of The Property Ombudsman Redress Scheme, providing independent dispute resolution for consumers.
• Safe Agent (Client Money Protection)coreOthersLicensed Safe Agent member providing client money protection. Safe Agent is the UK's foremost professional body for letting agents, ensuring client money is held in designated client accounts with independent annual inspection.
• Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)coreOthersMember of Tenancy Deposit Scheme, a government-approved scheme for protecting tenant deposits.
• My DepositminorOthersAlternative tenancy deposit protection scheme member.
• Client Money ProtectioncoreOthersApproved members of Client Money Protection scheme ensuring client funds are protected.
• The Property Ombudsman (TPO)coreOthersMember of The Property Ombudsman providing independent redress scheme for property transactions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Connells Group (formerly Countrywide): UK's largest estate agency and lettings group with extensive London coverage alongside national operations. Competitor on London residential mandates, though at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint than Smart Move.
• Knight Frank: Global real estate consultancy with significant London residential sales, lettings, and property management operations. Competes head-to-head on prime London mandates but is materially larger and more diversified by geography and service line.
• Savills: Global real estate services firm with a large prime Central London residential sales and lettings practice. Comparable on prime-London mandate type and customer profile, but operates as a much broader global advisory business rather than a London-only agency.

Direct peers

• Marsh & Parsons: Prime Central London estate agency owned by the Abu Dhabi-based Reem Investments, with a strong focus on high-value residential sales and lettings. Directly comparable to Smart Move on prime-Central London positioning and target customer profile.
• Benham & Reeves: London-focused residential sales, lettings, and property management agency with a multi-branch London footprint. Highly comparable on integrated services (sales, lettings, management) and London-only geographic focus.
• Foxtons: London-headquartered estate agency with a heavy Central/North London branch network offering residential sales, lettings, and property management. Most directly comparable to Smart Move on geography, customer segment, and integrated sales-plus-management model.
• Winkworth: UK franchised estate agency with a London-heavy network offering residential sales and lettings. Comparable on service mix and customer segments, though more geographically dispersed within the UK than Smart Move.
• Chestertons: London-focused estate agency and lettings specialist with comparable service tiers across sales, lettings, and management. Operates a similar mix of prime-Central and broader London mandates, making it a direct competitor on both buyer/seller and landlord mandates.

Emerging players

• Yopa: UK online estate agency with a hybrid agent model offering fixed-fee sales services. Comparable as an emerging threat to traditional London-focused agencies on lower- to mid-value residential mandates.
• Purplebricks: Online/hybrid estate agency offering flat-fee sales and lettings services across the UK. Represents a partial-overlap emerging competitor model that pressures traditional London agents like Smart Move on cost-conscious mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/smartmove
• Facebookfacebook.com/SmartMove
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smart-move-mayfair

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Smart Move