If you’ve just discovered that Strike.co.uk (formerly Housesimple.com) have taken an axe to their fees, making their house-selling service COMPLETELY FREE – yes, the same service they used to flog for a whopping £995 – then your first reaction is probably the same as everyone else’s: jump onto Google to find out what the hell is going on!
So here we are!
It would be an understatement to say that Strike have been dipping into their cash reserves to let the nation know about they’re a free house-selling service, which is why you may have come across their swanky new TV advert that’s currently doing the rounds.
Meanwhile, Strike’s rivals, Purplebricks & Yopa, don’t seem phased, because they’re still flaunting their very similar Hybrid estate agency service for a stonking £999.
Reluctant to believe that an estate agent could give away something for free – let alone the same service that used to cost a small fortune – the obvious question is being asked. Is this weird looking “thing” legit? What the hell is going on? Is their estate agency service REALLY free?
On the surface, the offer doesn’t make sense. In fact, it feels straight-up batshit crazy. So if you don’t know what the deal is, allow me to explain what’s going on…
FYI, Housesimple have gone through a complete re-brand, they are now Strike.co.uk. For all intents and purposes, they’re the same company offering the same services they always have, but they’ve thrown themselves under the surgical knife and made some superficial amendments.
Going forward, Housesimple is no more. It’s Strike! STRIKE!
Table of contents:
- Is Strike’s house-selling service actually free?
- Is there a catch? (kinda’, but not really)
- How to sell your property with Strike
- Why is Strike Free?
- Strike vs Other Online Estate Agents
- Should you use Strike to sell your home? Are they any good?
- Your feedback: have you used Strike’s free service?
Is Strike’s house-selling service actually free?
In short, yes! Totally free.
Book your Free Valuation from here →
When I mentioned Strike’s free services (note, they were Housesimple at the time) on my Facebook Page (consider joining if you haven’t done so already), a couple of people confirmed that it’s the real deal:
Besides from that, I’ve received plenty of positive feedback through other channels.
So yup, you can legitimately sign-up to Strike’s service and sell your house without spending a dime.
Here’s an overview of what you get [for free]:
Estate Agent | Rating | Duration | Includes / Notes | Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strike (formerly Housesimple)![]() | RatingTrustPilot Reviews | Duration 6 months | Includes / NotesNo fee package
| PriceFreeFree | Visit WebsiteBook Free In-Person Valuation |
Truly baffling, innit?
So, is there a catch or what?
Not really. But there is a limitation.
Strike currently only sell properties in England. So if your property is located in any other country in the UK, I’m sorry, but you’re out of luck, there are no freebies or party bags for you here, only a link to alternative online estate agents available to you at a cost (small cost, mind you).
If you’re fortunate enough to be in England, then the bottom line is, no one else is offering anything remotely close to Strike’s free house-selling service. It truly is a bargain.
How to sell your property with Strike
Step 1: Get a valuation
Strike’s free service includes a in-person valuation from a local agent, and arranging one should be step 1.
To clarify, there is 100% no obligations to use their service after a valuation is conducted.
Step 2: Instruct Strike to sell your home
If you are happy with the valuation, you can then choose to instruct Strike to sell your home. Your property will then be marketed for sale for 6 months on the UK’s biggest property portals, including Rightmove & Zoopla.
Step 3: Going live and managing your advert & enquiries
Once your advert is live you’ll be able to manage your affairs via Strike’s online dashboard, including your viewings schedule and any offers made.
Whenever you receive a message, offer or viewing request, you will be notified by text message and email, and then you can manage them from your Strike dashboard/account.
Why is Strike Free?
If you’re anything like me, then you don’t like things you don’t understand, so that’s why I want to clear any doubts.
While Strike’s offer sounds amazing, WHY IS IT FREE? I NEED TO KNOW!!!
Ok, so here’s the explanation…
Strike toss away their core services for free because they hope to make more than enough money from up-selling additional services, which includes the following:
- Marketing boost – a video trailer, and Rightmove premium listing, which generates more views (£599)
- Energy Performance Certificates (£90)
- Hosted Viewing Services (£699 for unlimited viewings)
- Conveyancing Services (price varies by case)
- Moving services (price varies by case)
- Mortgage brokering service (they won’t charge you for this, but they will earn commission from the lender if they successfully arrange a mortgage for you)
*You might be subject to an additional on-off fee of £78 for key management e.g. key collection/return or ‘key safe’ installation at the premises.
In all fairness to Strike, they are transparent about their up-selling tactics. This is what it says on their website:
We recommend useful services when you need them – such as mortgage, conveyancing and insurance advice. There’s no obligation, but if you use one of our partners we get a commission, which we are upfront about from the start.
Yup, Strike is basically a salesmen scrambling around for commission.
To reiterate, there is NO obligation to buy any of their add-on services – that’s a common and understandable fear. Perhaps this will help settle your nerves:

Here’s the full Facebook post (if you’re interested).
However, we can assume that they hope we do buy into the additional services, and somewhere along the line they may even try a hard-sales approach, but we certainly won’t be contractually obligated to pay a penny for any additional junk if we choose not to. For now, anyways.
Based on their EPC price (£90), I think it’s also safe to assume you won’t be getting any real bargains by tossing their extras into your shopping basket, only convenience. I’ll leave it in your capable hands to decide which you value more, price or convenience.
In any case, good sense should always encourage you to get multiple quotes from different suppliers so you know exactly where you stand. Here are my suggestions:
- Energy Performance Certificates: LettingAProperty.com sell EPC’s for £69 (Inc VAT)
- Mortgages Quotes: Habito is a free online mortgage brokerage, and they have been amassing a huge amount of positive feedback for providing extremely competitive mortgage deals. They have a 4.8 / 5 TrustPilot rating from over 2000+ customers (at the time of writing this blog post).
- Conveyancing Quotes: Get 4 instant quotes from expert SRA or CLC regulated conveyancing solicitors and Licensed Conveyancers by using this online tool by Reallymoving.com. Average saving is £365.
- Moving Quotes: Get 5 quotes from reallymoving.com, one of the most popular comparison websites for removal companies.
Yup, I’m sure Strike will be thrilled with me encouraging you to shop around.
Sorry Strike, but your ‘giveaway’ model tells me that you’ll never be able to offer me a good price on your extras. You simply ain’t gots the margins.
As a final note, I want to make it clear that I believe the details covered in this blog post regarding Strike’s service is true at the time of publication. But it may change tomorrow.
I will do my utmost to keep this blog post up-to-date if/when Strike change the terms of their service, but for the most accurate and up-to-date details, you should always rely on Strike’s official website.
Strike vs Other Online Estate Agents
There are probably about 20 different online/hybrid agents to choose from, so I won’t bore you (or myself) by comparing Strike against them all (to be honest, the majority of them are irrelevant). But I think it makes sense to compare them against the two market leaders, Purplepricks & Yopa, because then it will be as plain as day how bonkers Strike’s offer is…
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
---|---|---|---|
Fixed Cost | FREE | £999* | £999* |
Visit website | Visit website | Visit website | |
TrustPilot Rating | TrustPilot Reviews | TrustPilot Reviews | TrustPilot Reviews |
Core service | |||
Service coverage | England only | UK | UK |
Free Valuation | |||
Dedicated agent | |||
Advert on Rightmove & Zoopla | |||
Photographs | |||
Floorplan | |||
For Sale board/sign | |||
Negotiation & Sales progression | |||
Sole agency contract | 13 weeks | 12 weeks | 16 weeks |
Online dashboard | |||
App | |||
Extras | |||
*London prices | FREE | £1499(Total fixed cost) | £1499(Total fixed cost) |
*No sale, no fee | Varies by location(Starting from £999) | ||
Hosted viewings | £699 | £300 | £300 |
Visit website | Visit website | Visit website |
In short, it’s a no-brainer, really (if you’re trying to sell a property in England, that is).
Should you use Strike to sell your home? Are they any good?
Just to clarify, I haven’t used Strike’s (or Housesimple’s) estate agency services, so I can’t do anything other than make you aware of their current offering, and explain why and how it’s free (because, as said, it can seem suspicious at a glance). However, it’s worth pointing out that they do have positive reviews on TrustPilot from 15,000+ folks, with a current rating of 4.7 (out of 5).
I can’t imagine this business model being sustainable forever, it seems too unprofitable. So if Strike’s unlikely strategy (to dominate the market) eventually ends up being their downfall, then so be it. That’s on them.
Fortunately, they have backers’ with more money than sense, so I could be wrong.
But hey, that’s not our concern. If free food is being offered, why not snap it up? Strike.co.uk
Your feedback: have you used Strike’s free service?
If so, I’d love to hear your experience.
Were they.. errr… worth the money? Leave a comment below…
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
Thanks for this. I was desperately looking for the small print that would eventually come back to haunt me.
If the only catch is that housesimple are going to try and up sell me products that I don't have to buy in order for them to make money, then I can live with that.
Risky model, but makes sense. Alot of people must be opting into their extra services. I imagine conveyancing is popular.
I'll let you know how I get on. Wish me luck!