Newsagent covers the latest news and insights from the private rented sector for letting agents.
Settio Property Experience sets itself apart from the competition by charging its landlords an all-inclusive fee, writes co-founder Samuel Fitz-Hugh. He thinks more agencies are set to follow this approach, but warns it will be hard work.
Goodlord becomes first company since the onset of the pandemic to offer Rent Protection Insurance that pay outs until vacant possession, with no cap on months.
Training in estate and letting agencies is intensifying before the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) requirements have even been set in stone. Agents are working to attain the expected qualifications - but what else is driving this burgeoning training mindset?
Goodlord, the UK’s fastest growing lettings technology and services platform, has acquired the fintech app acasa. This acquisition forms part of Goodlord’s push to broaden the range of market-leading services it offers to letting agents and their landlords and tenants.
Whether or not your tenants pay their rent on time can affect the customer service you provide your landlords who expect prompt, regular payments. Here are five ways you can help your tenants make timely payments, every time.
With energy prices rising and a proposed increase to the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards on the horizon, now could be the time for your agency's landlords to meet their tenants' demand for an energy efficient home - and their future compliance obligations.
The average cost of rent is at a year-to-date high of £1,104 per property in September, while voids increased compared to August, but are still 10.5% lower according to the year-on-year figures.
New lettings legislation has come thick and fast over the past few years, but how well is it being enforced?
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has now ended, bringing to a close the government's largest single piece of financial support of employees and employers during the pandemic. Your agency and your landlords should be aware of the potential impact this may have on your tenants.
Energy expert Rik Smith, previously of Uswitch and British Gas and current Head of Tenancy Services at Goodlord, answers letting agents' questions on the current energy crisis and how it could impact themselves and their landlords and tenants.
We don't charge our landlords a letting fee. Or an inventory fee. Or a referencing fee. Or any extra fees at all. That's because we've chosen to set Settio Property Experience apart by offering our landlords an all-inclusive management fee instead, simplifying the landlord experience. It doesn't matter if the client requests an extra inspection or anything else - absolutely everything is covered by their managed fees.
Topics: Customer experience
Letting agents and landlords utilising Goodlord's Rent Protection & Legal Expenses Insurance* policy will now have their rent protected until vacant possession is obtained, with no cap on the number of months covered. This will allow landlords to claim up to £100,000 worth of missed rent payments and legal expenses.
Topics: Goodlord Group
At Vouch, we're seeing an increased appetite for training in the agencies we speak with. In the context of the Regulation of Property Agents, this is perhaps unsurprising. But that's not the sole catalyst of the trend - there are other factors at play.
Topics: Business
Goodlord, the UK’s fastest growing lettings technology and services platform, has acquired the fintech app acasa. This acquisition forms part of Goodlord’s push to broaden the range of market-leading services it offers to letting agents and their landlords and tenants.
Topics: Goodlord Group
In recent research asking landlords to choose the letting agent services that they find most valuable, the top result was rent collection, at 68.12%. Why? Because chasing rent payments can be time consuming. For agents who shoulder the responsibility of collecting rent for their landlords, late payments from their tenants can delay payments to landlords - and delay your agent fees too.
Topics: Customer experience
The pandemic has shown that in the midst of a crisis, there are opportunities out there for businesses flexible and agile enough to spot them and act quickly. The energy crisis is no different. Estate and letting agents can help support their tenants and landlords and ensure that properties stand out by leaning on the growing necessity to offer a green and energy efficient home - and by sharing the resources available in our energy crisis hub.
Topics: Customer experience
The latest Goodlord Rental Index shows that the average cost of rent in England has reached its highest level for 2021 so far, despite rents falling in some regions. Voids inched up compared to August, but remain much lower than annual averages. The data therefore points to a very slight cooling of demand during September compared to the lettings frenzy seen throughout the summer, but overall paints a picture of a much stronger rental market than seen at the same time last year.
Topics: Data
Well, isn’t it nice to get back to normal in the business world? Well, almost! Live face-to-face gatherings are back, as I discovered when I was invited to attend the recent Chartered Trading Standards Institute of Trading Standards Symposium as a guest in Birmingham. I say normal, however, if it is not one thing, it is another and my day started far earlier than anticipated to allow for finding a petrol station to fill up the car to ensure I could get there. Not quite as bad as feared, eventually finding one with less of a queue on the third attempt.
Topics: Compliance
The government's furlough scheme has now ended, cutting off support for the 1.6 million staff members still on furlough across 484,000 employers as of 31 July 2021. Throughout its life, 11.6 million jobs were supported by the scheme at a cost of more than £68 billion in total - a large sum for businesses to compensate for in the coming months if they are still feeling the bite of the pandemic.
Topics: Compliance
What are the options for tenants who are struggling to pay their bills? What happens if my tenants' energy supplier goes bust? What happens if I have a vacant property and the supplier goes bust? Energy expert Rik Smith answers these questions and more on the unfolding energy crisis and its impact on the lettings industry.
➡️ See all our resources for letting agents on the energy crisis.
Topics: Business
