Reading: Letting agencies combine

Amalgamation creates Caversham’s largest and most experienced property letting and management company.

Drummonds Property Letting & Management Services and Elwes Property Managers have combined to create Caversham’s largest and most experienced independent letting agency. The resultant portfolio of properties will be managed from Drummonds recently expanded premises.

The move has resulted in the letting specialist doubling both the amount of managed properties and its staff, as Elwes’ existing team and its managed properties will be incorporated into and run from Drummonds Prospect Street headquarters just a short distance from Elwes’ current location.

Drummonds’ managing director, John Grimes, believes the amalgamation will mean good news for both Reading’s landlords and prospective-tenants alike, as they look for a trusted service from dedicated letting specialists in a volatile marketplace.

He said: “Unlike many other agencies in Reading, both Elwes and Drummonds have concentrated solely on the letting and property management aspect. The addition of Elwes and its 50 years experience to our organisation means that, coupled with our own vast experience, we can offer both tenants and landlords unparalleled levels of service, experience and expertise – something highly sought after in the current climate and essential given the increasing degree of regulation.

“Our independence and personal approach to property letting and management allows us to operate in a different way to the multi-office agency environment. Being able to focus on the individual needs of our clients is one of the major factors in our continued success and the presence of Elwes with its experienced team will enable us to offer the same personalised service to more people.”

The combination is a direct result of the need to expand and satisfy the ever growing demand for rented property in Reading. John Grimes believes this is reflective of the shift in our attitudes housing in today’s age.

He said: “Reading has long been ideally placed to serve a strong rental market thanks to its employment engine, but over the last few years we are seeing a huge rise in the amount of people wishing to let property. I believe this is due to our changing attitude to property, and indeed to the way we live our lives in the 21st Century."