Good reviews, especially Google reviews, can lead to more customers. Reviews from your existing landlords and tenants demonstrate social proof to your potential customers, showing what to expect from your agency - and there are best practises to follow when asking for those reviews. Our Customer Success team speaks to a lot of agents and has the chance to hear what the agencies with the best Google reviews are doing to get them. We've put together some of the top things that your agency can do too - plus, you can download some free templates for asking for reviews and replying to reviews to get you started.

Goodlord's Rent Collection service will automatically send tenants a reminder to pay three days before their rent is due and chase again as soon as a payment is late. The tool has been available to some of its customers for a few months in beta mode. It will now be available to anyone using Goodlord's lettings platform.

Letting and estate agents are being called upon to professionalise and become accredited through the announced - but still not official - Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA). Now, the question of landlords being registered or licensed across England is starting to gain some momentum, and is expected to be addressed in the Renters' Reform Bill white paper. Other nations in the UK already have this type of system in place so, the first order of business: understanding the current lay of the land.

Speaking as both a letting agent at Martin & Co Blackpool and as a landlord, we can't do rentals like we did 20 years ago. The market has changed. Customer demand has changed. For a property that you own or manage, you've got to think about maximising profits. With a good agent on their side, landlords can create an attractive home for tenants, avoid fines for non compliance, and keep costs low with their properties managed in the best way.

The government has confirmed plans to "legislate to require that holiday rentals meet an actual letting threshold before being assessed for business rates" in England. Any new regulations will aim to ensure that "only genuine holiday businesses can access the rate relief for small businesses". This also follows the government's commitment in June 2021 to look into the possibility of a "tourist accommodation registration scheme" in England, through the Tourism Recovery Plan.

The government wants to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards to EPC Band C by 2025 for new tenancies in private rented homes and by 2028 for all tenancies to improve the overall energy performance of the private rented sector in England and Wales. The consultation on the proposals ran until 8 January 2021 and they feature in the Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings bill, which is now awaiting its second reading in the House of Lords. In line with the consultation, the government has announced a plan of action for how to improve the use and performance of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which includes updating the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (EPB Regulations) in 2022.

Most conversations I have with letting agents are around stock. The next 12 months will be all about handling the volume of tenants beating down the door for that one rental property available. Agents need to turn their attention to growing their landlord and property portfolio to meet that demand - and here are five tips on how your could potentially grow your agency by 50% overnight, while keeping your agency's costs low.

While you have tenants in your landlords' rental properties, you have certain responsibilities to them as their agent and property manager, one of the most important of which is to carry out certain repairs when necessary. Your tenants have the right to live in a property which is safe and in good condition, so you need to ensure that you take action if they contact you over any issues.

Being a property manager is not as simple as just letting people move into your landlord's property in exchange for payment. You need to ensure that any property you fully manage and let on your landlords' behalf is safe and in good condition; as a result you have a number of responsibilities to your tenants.

However well managed a property is, your landlords are likely to see a void period between tenants. Your agency may offer your landlords a void management service, managing their utility switching process, but this is time-consuming to do manually. There are ways to make it a better experience for your agency's administrators and landlords, while improving your agency's bottom line - even while the energy crisis is ongoing.