Discover five essential tips for letting agents to thrive in tenancy management by streamlining processes, ensuring compliance, and growing their business.
Letting agents face numerous challenges daily, from managing high volumes of move-ins and move-outs to meeting landlord demands and ensuring compliance. These tasks can quickly become overwhelming without the right strategies.
Having the appropriate tools in place will help to streamline a letting agent’s process, mitigate risks, and ensure smooth operations.
With these tips, letting agents can focus more on growing their business and less on day-to-day administrative tasks.
Read this guide to find out more:
- Speed up and secure the referencing process
- Streamline move-ins while ensuring compliance
- Simplify rent collection
- Comprehensive support
- Stay informed and develop your knowledge
1. Speed up and secure the referencing process
Efficient and secure referencing is crucial, but it shouldn’t slow an agent’s process down. Delays can lead to extended void periods or even lost revenue.
Not having a robust referencing process may result in fraudulent applications, leaving agents and landlords exposed to risks such as unpaid rent or property damage.
Agents need to balance speed with comprehensive checks. Failure to do so can be costly for agents, whether that’s through extending void periods or creating a financial loss for themselves and landlords.
Goodlord’s PRO referencing service offers fast, reliable checks to confirm a tenant’s identity and financial status. References are typically completed within 24 hours, with one in three processed instantly; helping agents to minimise void periods, and speed up the move-in process while ensuring tenant reliability.
Through integrating with payroll providers and HMRC as standard, Goodlord confirms a tenant’s information directly from the source - minimising any opportunity for fraudulent applications. With the number of fraudulent applications rising from 140% last year, the most common being payslip fraud, Goodlord minimises the opportunity of these applications by going straight to the source.
All the tenants need is their national insurance number and the rest is sorted for them and their agents.
2. Streamline move-ins while ensuring compliance
Letting agents need to provide the correct documents for each tenant before they move into a property. If the documents are incorrect or not provided, it can result in being non-compliant or some hefty fines.
Some examples of documents needed and the consequences if not provided are:
- How to Rent guide - without this guide, a letting agent or landlord cannot use a Section 21 notice at the end of the tenancy if needed, plus they may be liable for fines.
- Gas certificates - landlords and letting agents must provide an updated copy of the property’s gas certificate, without it they are liable for a fine of up to £6,000 - or even six months in prison.
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) - As of March 2023, landlords and letting agents who do not have an EPC rating may be fined up to £5,000. If a letting agent doesn’t provide the rating before a tenant moves in, they cannot use a Section 21 notice.
It is important that letting agents provide all of the relevant documentation. However, a checklist can help agents streamline this process to ensure they’re compliant.
Download our checklist to ensure every document is accounted for during the move-in process.
3. Simplify rent collection
Managing rent payments is time-consuming, especially with the rise in rent arrears cases.
Recent figures from the English Housing Survey 2022-2023 show that 74,000 tenants surveyed were in rent arrears at some point during their tenancy. Agents should ensure they have a simplified yet effective solution to prevent any cases from happening to their landlords.
To address this, agents need a straightforward and effective system for managing rent. Goodlord’s Rent Collection service automates the process, ensuring timely payments and reducing the time spent on reconciliation.
Rent collection can help agents maintain a strong reputation with landlords while minimising the administrative burden.
You can read more about Goodlord’s rent collection services here.
Read more about Goodlord’s rent collection services here
4. Access comprehensive support
Quick, reliable support is crucial for letting agents. Whether it’s a query about referencing or compliance, the right support saves time and reduces stress.
With strong support, agents demonstrate knowledge and care, boosting their credibility. When landlords ask questions like “What’s happening with my reference?” or “When was the tenant last chased for late rent?” agents should respond confidently. Goodlord’s platform provides all the information in one place, ensuring agents have the answers.
However, if a letting agent prefers phone support, Goodlord assists fast, with 91% of calls answered in under 60 seconds.
5. Stay informed and develop your knowledge
Once administrative tasks are under control, agents can focus on growing their knowledge, which in turn can help them win new business for their agency.
Staying informed about industry changes, such as the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill or Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill 2024, is crucial for supporting landlords effectively.
Goodlord offers CPD-accredited courses and other resources through the Agent Hub, helping agents continuously learn and enhance their services. This added value can help attract new landlords and grow an agency.
Want to learn more about Agent Hub? Book a demo to speak to our team.
Book a demo to speak to our team about our Agent Hub
