Estate agents held back by reliance on third-party providers

The survey of UK estate agents, commissioned by Street Group, explored the biggest operational frustrations surrounding agency website management, revealing widespread reliance on external providers and significant barriers when it comes to upgrading or improving existing systems.

The research found that 31% of agents are completely reliant on third-party providers or developers to make changes, while a further 28% described themselves as fairly reliant. In contrast, just 12% stated they were fully self-sufficient when it came to managing and updating their technology infrastructure.

The findings also reveal why many agencies remain dependent on external providers. Almost two thirds (63%) admitted they have delayed upgrading or replacing systems altogether, with concern around operational disruption cited as the biggest barrier (34%), followed by the cost of migration or implementation (31%).

The survey also highlighted frustrations around ongoing system management, with slow or expensive updates ranking among the sector's biggest technology pain points, reinforcing concerns that many agencies lack the flexibility to make website changes quickly and efficiently.

The findings come as Street Group opens Spectre Websites, its estate agency website platform, to the wider UK market for the first time. Previously only available to users of Street.co.uk’s CRM platform, the product is now available to any estate agency using a CRM system that supports the Rightmove standard real-time data feed (RTDF).

Designed specifically to address the issues highlighted by the research, Spectre Websites gives agents full control over their website without relying on developers or third-party providers. The platform is entirely self-serve, allowing agencies to make updates themselves while reducing both the time and cost associated with traditional website management.

The launch also introduces two AI-native capabilities. AI Onboarding can generate a draft website using an agent's existing branding and content, reducing time-to-launch to as little as a day, while the AI Blog Writer automates content creation by drafting articles, generating imagery, and writing meta descriptions and alt text.

Spectre Websites is available now to UK estate agencies on a CRM that supports the Rightmove RTDF, priced from £159 per month with no setup fees. More information is available at spectre.uk.com/product/websites.

Heather Staff, Co-Founder of Street Group, commented:

"For too long, estate agencies have been forced to rely on third-party providers for even the most basic changes to their digital infrastructure.

Our research shows that this dependency remains widespread across the industry, with many agencies also delaying technology upgrades due to concerns around cost and operational disruption.

The result is that businesses often find themselves stuck with systems that are difficult to change, slow to evolve, and expensive to maintain.

That's exactly why we built Spectre Websites. We wanted to give agents complete control over their online presence, without the need for developers, lengthy project timelines, or ongoing change requests.

By opening Spectre Websites to the wider market and embedding AI throughout the platform, we're making it possible for agents to launch and manage a professional website faster, more easily, and with far greater control than has traditionally been possible."