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Property Payment Practices Report 2021

•By PaymentCheck•Reports

UK Property Sector Payments: Generally Good, But Some Shocking Laggards

While not uniformly stellar, payment practices in the UK property sector are, on average, significantly better than the national norm, although digging deeper reveals some worrying outliers.

The Numbers

  • Companies analysed: 467
  • Average PaymentCheck Score: 66.3/100
  • UK average: 50.0/100 (Property sector average is 16.3 points above the UK average)

What Stands Out

The sector's average PaymentCheck score of 66.3 is a comfortable margin above the national average, suggesting a generally healthy payment culture. However, the sheer disparity between the best and worst payers is stark, highlighting that "property sector" is a wide umbrella, containing some firms with excellent discipline and others that are, frankly, awful.

Best Payers

  1. CWBC PROPERTIES (BP1) LIMITED - 100/100
  2. OVO (S) HOME SERVICES LIMITED - 100/100
  3. DYNO-ROD LIMITED - 100/100
  4. BP EXPLORATION (AZERBAIJAN) LIMITED - 100/100
  5. DANNY SULLIVAN & SONS LTD. - 99.6/100

Worst Payers

  1. SUTTON MAINTENANCE LIMITED - 18.1/100
  2. EPTA COLD SERVICE LTD - 20.7/100
  3. CROWN STREET DEVELOPMENTS 1 LIMITED - 22.38/100
  4. BAXI HEATING UK LIMITED - 24.03/100
  5. ESSEX SERVICES GROUP LIMITED - 24.9/100

Regional Patterns

London-based property companies lead the way with an average PaymentCheck score of 73.0, based on a sample of 118 firms; this is over 6 points above the national sector average and clearly demonstrates that capital businesses, on average, prioritize getting their invoices paid. The North East lags behind other regions with an average of 67.2 (19 companies), indicating potential differences in business practices or financial health.

If you're struggling to get invoices paid, calculate the late payment interest and compensation you could be owed using this late payment calculator.

While the average paints a positive picture, the spread of scores - from Sutton Maintenance's 18.1 up to multiple perfect 100s - screams caution, highlighting the critical importance of due diligence before working with any firm in this space.