Don't sit back and wait for your landlords to provide you with reviews and referrals. Make sure you're leveraging the loyalty you've earned by asking for a review and highlighting referral schemes.
How can you reassure your staff members that your workplace is safe? What can you do if staff members are refusing to return to work? What if a staff member is self-isolating but isn’t required to do so? DAS Law UK looks at what employers need to consider when returning staff members to work.
Letting and property agents in England must belong to a client money protection scheme by 1 April 2021, when the two-year grace period comes to an end.
An analysis of 255,000 tenancies shows that revenues from student lets dropped by 30% in 2020, with the amount spent on student properties dropping from 12p in every £1 to just 8p between 2018/19 and 2020.
Once lockdown came into effect on 23rd March 2020, the impact on the sector was swift, but the pace of activity appears to be increasing, pushing volumes much closer to those seen in 2020 before the pandemic hit.
Stamp Duty has been a hot topic in the property industry in recent months, with the government's Stamp Duty holiday announced in 2020 and its recent extension. So, is now the time to consider long-term reform? Paul Starkey, Chief Commercial Officer of Reapit, shares his thoughts.
Your agency can tap into positive sentiment from your landlords to help ensure their continued loyalty, encourage more take up of all the services that you have to offer, and win more instructions. Find out how, in this extract from "How to win more landlords in a challenging environment".
Offering your tenants contents and liability insurance is an easy way to improve your bottom line and provide your tenants with more protection.
The Government has extended the evictions ban and six-month notice periods in England until 31 May 2021.
Referencing is a data-heavy process, gathering a lot of personal information for applicants. Using a digital-first referencing company, such as Vouch, helps to mitigate the risk of any GDPR compliance issues - as Beau Findlay, Software Development Lead at Vouch, explains.
Once you’ve demonstrated to your landlords how much value you provide, don't be afraid to ask them if they’d consider leaving your agency a review on Google, allAgents, or Trustpilot or providing you with a testimonial you can use on your website and marketing materials.
Topics: Business
What should you consider when staff members who have been working remotely as a result of Covid-19 start returning to the office? Molly-Ellen Turecek of DAS Law UK looks at what employers need to consider when returning staff members to work.
Topics: Covid-19
It has been mandatory for letting agents in England who hold client money to belong to a client money protection scheme since 1st April 2019, in order to make sure that the funds of both their tenants and landlords are protected. A two-year grace period has been in place for agencies that have had difficulty opening a client money account, however this ends on 1st April 2021. Letting agencies can be fined up to £30,000, if they do not belong to an approved client money protection scheme, and up to £5,000, if they don’t display their certificate of membership or provide it when asked.
Topics: Compliance
The pandemic has had a major impact on the student rental market, a new analysis by Goodlord has revealed. During 2020, revenues from student lets dropped by 30% compared to figures from 2018 and 2019.
Topics: Data
One year ago, the lettings market ground to an abrupt halt. With viewings and moves prohibited under all but the most exceptional circumstances, the whole industry scrambled to cope with this dramatic turn of events. In the 12 months since, letting agents and landlords have worked tirelessly to get the industry back on track and enable tenants to safely move house. We reviewed the highs and lows of the past year by the numbers, with volumes tracked using our Lettings Activity Tracker.
Topics: Data
A guest blog by Paul Starkey, Chief Commercial Officer of Reapit.
Stamp Duty is hardly the public’s most-favoured tax (is there such a thing?) and the government’s recent extension of the Stamp Duty holiday deadline to the end of June will no doubt be warmly received by the pending buyers under pressure to push their transactions through before the cliff edge.
Topics: Business
A landlord’s journey doesn’t end when they decide to take up your services. In fact, it’s only just beginning, and a successful relationship could drive even more business for your agency.
Topics: Business
Only 45% of renters protect their belongings or liability with an insurance policy, leaving 55% with no insurance during their tenancy. Offering tenants contents and liability insurance is an easy win for letting agents who want to improve their bottom line at a time when letting agents and landlords need to keep a handle on rising costs due to new regulation and the aftereffects of the pandemic.
Topics: Business
The situation with Covid-19 is rapidly changing and this article will continue to be updated throughout. For the latest guidelines, please refer to gov.uk.
The evictions ban in England, as well the requirement for landlords to provide 6-month notice periods to tenants, has been extended until 31 May 2021. Exceptions remain in place for the most "egregious cases", including illegal occupation, anti-social behaviour and arrears of six months’ rent or more. The ban on commercial evictions has also been extended, to 30 June 2021.
Topics: Covid-19
Gone are the days when applicants had to send in paper documents which could be left lying around in the open, or when there was the risk of leaving a passport in a scanner somewhere. Those things are no longer possible when working in a digital-first manner in tenant referencing - making it much easier to stay GDPR compliant in our day-to-day activities.
Topics: Business
