Southern Enterprise Awards 2021

97 | Southern Enterprise Awards 2021 From lettings to renovations, Square Space Property takes the hassle out of landlords’ lives and makes renting a breeze for tenants too. We speak to Founder, Karl Greenhill, and find out more about what the agency has to offer. Square Space Property was set up in 2017, initially as a guaranteed rent provider supplying high quality shared housing for London’s young professionals who wished to house share. As part of this service, the firm offers landlords a unique free property refurbishment to bring the property up to the level of boutique accommodation that its partakers expect from the brand. In 2019 Square Space Property became a member of ARLA Propertymark, so it made sense to also offer traditional lettings and management as part of its services. “We had many landlords who wanted to work with us, however their properties didn’t always fit the guaranteed rental model so now we could also offer them a competitive but reliable and simple lettings service too,” explains Founder, Karl Greenhill. “Shortly after that we branched into sales as well.” Karl is a landlord himself, so he knows all the difficulties facing landlords and tenants in the current climate. That’s why he established Square Space Property, offering solid solutions to common problems faced by landlord and sellers, whilst offering first rate services to renters and buyers alike. Karl spent nine years in the British Army, a decade working as a project engineer, and has worked in project management and property development as well as spending five years as an estate agent. He brings his wide set of skills and experience to overseeing Square Space Property, successfully facilitating sales and lettings and project managing our refurbishments “The business was set up around the core value of ‘Be Better’,” Karl explains. “Having previously been in the Army, we were trained to always ‘Be The Best’ and this is something I have tried to apply to everything I do. Following a few negative experiences with estate agents in the past I felt there had to be a more honest and transparent way of providing a faultless customer experience and ‘Be Better’ was born.” Best Emerging Estate Agents 2021 - London Aug21572 This is just one of the USPs that sets Square Space Property aside from competitors. The other key feature is that the firm is boutique which is flexible as it offers a range of services that a lot of other agents would shy away from. As well as providing more lettings options than a traditional lettings agent, which can include free or partially funded refurbishments for landlords, the company also offers spruce up services for its sales and lettings properties to ready them for market. “We like to consider ourselves to be a one-stop- shop for all things property, yes we cover all the elements of a traditional estate agents, but are adaptable enough to provide all the additional services you might not always associate with lettings and sales but are often pertinent to giving a fantastic all-round service,” says Karl. When it comes to internal culture, Karl is a keen believer in communication and tells us that he and his team discuss everything as it’s important to him to get as many ideas as possible on important business decisions. Also, still a very young company, the team is constantly evolving in its processes, the ways it addresses marketing and the ways it approaches problems. “Being able to communicate well as a team, means we are perfectly equipped to be able to service our clients’ needs with a shared variety of skills, which always gets the best results. When looking for new talent, I’ve always been a believer in finding people whose skillsets excel in my weaker areas. This then means our areas of expertise are complementary. If you are prepared to learn from the people you employ, it will allow your business to grow beyond any limitations you might put on it yourself,” Karl expresses. The main trends that Square Space Property is seeing in south west London currently is an enhanced interest in moving slightly further out of London, towards zones 3,4 and 5, to try and get more outside or internal space for the money. “With the national move towards working flexibly from home, people have become very concerned with their homes and what they can provide to improve their daily routine,” Karl elaborates. “For example, gardens and balconies are high on people’s checklists as breakout space is important throughout the day, whereas being close to transport isn’t as critical, but being near parks or amenities is! We have also seen record prices and transaction speeds for ground floor garden flats and houses. Those in particularly exceptional condition being the most popular alongside the ones which have great potential.” Recently, Square Space Property was rewarded for its diligence and hard work with the prestigious title of Best Emerging Estate Agents 2021 – London, and Karl tells us that he and the team have exciting plans for the future. “We are moving into a new office space in Tooting Broadway, which is our main area of focus and expertise. We are also currently working on a couple of guaranteed rent refurbishments for landlords. We aim to continue growing the brand and our five- star reputation in our local area.” Contact: Karl Greenhill Company: Square Space Property Web Address: www.squarespaceproperty.com