A week in the room with AI’s boldest minds – and the property disruptors rewriting the rules

If 2024 was AI’s polite introduction to estate agency, 2025 is the year it has moved in, unpacked its bags, and started making itself useful. What began as cautious curiosity has evolved into daily dependence, with The Voice of the Agent 2025 revealing that 83% of UK agents now utilise AI tools in their work, almost double the figure from last year (44%). For context, 27% of Brits have personally used LLMs, and 10% use them professionally. 

Daily usage amongst agents has leapt from 23% to 62% in just twelve months.

AI is no longer a party trick for valuations and listing copy; it has become the operational Swiss Army knife of the modern agency. Agents are deploying it for content creation, photo enhancement, intelligent scheduling, and automated follow-ups, the unglamorous but vital work that frees up hours for negotiation, networking, and fee-winning.

The adoption curve has been steep, but the rationale is pragmatic. In a market where 12.1 agents compete for every postcode, operational efficiency is not an option; it is oxygen. AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Veo3, as well as specialist sector platforms, have become embedded not because they are fashionable but because they work effectively and do not require a lengthy training session to operate.

My discussions and the report’s narrative were straightforward: agents don’t just want AI to lighten the load; they want it to carry it. Wishlists are refreshingly free of hype. Forget science fiction; the demands are intelligent automation, frictionless integration, and data that behaves like a negotiator, not a spreadsheet.

This shift is both cultural and technological in nature. An industry once seen as analogue is now outpacing many sectors in AI uptake, moving from “if” to “how well” and “what next” with startling speed.

The AI revolution is also redrawing battle lines elsewhere. Portals remain the lead-generation monarchs, with Rightmove commanding 75% effectiveness ratings, but agents’ patience with pricing is fraying. Only 31% believe their portal is reasonably priced, while 65% say it is expensive or very expensive.

AI will accelerate the search for alternatives. 

AI will be the alternative. 

It already is. 

By 2028, forecasts indicate LLM-powered searches may account for up to 75% of search market value, overtaking traditional search engines for many informational and commercial queries.

With tools emerging that can spider hundreds of agent websites, match buyers to properties in seconds, and bypass traditional search interfaces entirely, the existential threat to portals is no longer hypothetical. The report makes it plain: portals are still friends(ish), but increasingly the kind you keep while looking for a better option.

For suppliers, AI is exposing the limits of half-baked PropTech. Two-thirds of agents (66%) cite lack of seamless integration as their biggest frustration, followed by high costs (40%). The most praised tools, Street, Sprift, and Homesearch, share a common trait: they think like agents, not engineers, and seamlessly integrate into the day-to-day workflow.

The implication is stark. In a world where AI can already create content, analyse markets, and manage communications, suppliers that cannot integrate or automate will be left behind.

For those operating in the top 5% or 1% of the market, who are disproportionately represented in the data, the stakes are even higher. Clients expect precision, discretion, and speed. AI delivers all three, whether that’s generating flawless marketing collateral for a £10m penthouse or providing near-instant AVMs with 99% projected accuracy by 2027. In the upper quartile, time saved is reputation earned.

And yet, The Voice of the Agent reminds us that AI is not replacing the agent but redefining them. Relationship-building, complex negotiation, and the emotional intelligence that secures instructions remain human domains. AI handles the mechanics; the agent delivers the magic.

In prime property, that balance matters. AI may help win the meeting, but it is still the handshake, the insight, and the quiet confidence over coffee that wins the instruction.

In short, AI is no longer knocking on the door of UK estate agencies; it’s running the back office, streamlining the marketing, and quietly devouring at the portals’ lunch. The agents, suppliers, and portals that adapt will find themselves faster, more innovative, and more profitable. Those that don’t will soon see the market has moved on without them.

AI today, is the worst it will ever be.

I started with a quote from Churchill, so I'll end with another, "It's the end of the world as we know it."

Tickets (£99) are now available for The Voice of the Agent Conference 2025: https://www.weareunchained.co.uk/booking