Monday December 5

Purplebricks, the online estate agency backed by Neil Woodford, has already reassured investors that it does not expect the abolition of tenant fees for letting, as set-out in the Autumn Statement last month, will have “any meaningful impact on the business”. The London-listed group, which was launched in 2014, said its tenant fees are “modest and highly competitive” when compared to its peers. It does not charge renewal fees.

Nevertheless, investors will be keen to find out if Purplebricks can quantify the impact of the ban on one-off tenant fees when it publishes its half-year results. In the 19 weeks to September 14, the group said the start of the new financial year on May 1 was “very encouraging”. It also said the Brexit vote had “little discernible” impact on the business. However, analysis by Anthony Codling, of Jefferies, highlighted that Purplebricks was “not selling many homes before the EU referendum”. “So it may not actually be good news that the EU referendum had little impact,” he added.