Rents are holding steady in the regions monitored by the Goodlord Rental Index, despite the slower pace of lettings at the beginning of the year.
Legislation is now one of the key drivers for landlords choosing to take up a letting agent's services. Showing how much you can do for landlords in this area could be the difference between bringing them on as let-only or fully managed, say agents in an extract from Goodlord's e-book "How to win new landlords in a challenging environment".
The pandemic has exposed a number of shortcomings in traditional lettings industry processes, not least in referencing, with many agents now demanding more. Simon Tillyer of Vouch shares his view on how referencing has progressed in the past year.
Christopher Watkin shares why letting agents should use newsletters, blogs, videos, and social media to win more landlords by providing information about their local property market.
Gold Key Lettings feels it has a responsibility as a letting agency to help its landlords avoid risk where possible, through a deep understanding of legislation, in-depth referencing processes, and a strong rent protection policy included in its managed proposition.
The recovery plan for Covid-19 is seen by many as an opportunity to reinforce and boost the UK's commitment to bring its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 - and here are just three ways the housing market can play its part in 2021.
The guidance for landlords and tenants during Covid-19 has been updated to make serious rent arrears "greater than 6 months' rent" exempt from the extended evictions ban in England - removing the stipulation that rent accrued since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 could be discounted.
This agent made the decision to set up a new lettings agency, Cloverhill Properties, bringing together her in-depth knowledge around relationship building and implementing digital solutions to create an efficient business with unique selling points from the get-go.
2021 is a difficult year to plan for - but there are certain predictions that can be made based on the current state of play in the property market. Five experts share their prognosis for the coming 12 months.
The cost of rent saw only minimal change in the regions monitored by Goodlord during December, with average void periods either improving or holding steady.
The latest lockdown measures appear to have slowed the lettings market somewhat during January, with void periods increasing across the board according to the latest Goodlord Rental Index. However, rents are holding steady despite the slower pace of lettings, and tenants' incomes have improved compared to December.
Topics: Data
Helping landlords navigate new and changing lettings legislation is still one of the most important ways letting agents can support landlords. This year is again going to bring with it myriad legislation changes and will be a key lever letting agencies can pull to win more landlords in a challenging environment. Most of the Covid-19 legislation changes and initiatives are set to end in the first half of the year, including six-month notice periods and changes to the possession process - better known as the furlough scheme - and the stamp duty holiday.
Topics: Customer experience
Sometimes it takes a pandemic to make people realise that the systems and processes they've been using for years aren't necessarily the right ones; they just haven't looked to see what else is on the market.
Topics: Business
What's your plan for winning new landlords in 2021? Christopher Watkin talked to Goodlord's Oli Sherlock in a recent webinar about his advice for agents on their approaches to getting new landlords on their books, with actions that will show you how to give your lettings business an uplift using tried and tested techniques.
🎬 Watch the whole conversation
🎧 Listen to the whole conversation
Topics: Customer experience
“Rent arrears across our current portfolio of 220 properties is at less than 1% because we're vigilant in selecting quality tenants,” says Russ Blockley, Managing Director at Gold Key Lettings. “Once we're conducting a viewing for the applicant, we know that 80% of the vetting has been performed on that applicant during our pre-viewing protocol, for example.”
Topics: Business
In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050, while 2020 saw calls for tackling climate change to be included in planning for a post-pandemic future. Energy in housing accounts for 14% of total UK emissions, according to the Committee on Climate Change - which means there’ll likely be a strong knock-on effect for rental energy standards to meet net zero goals, with the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards just the beginning. Going green may require investment but there are opportunities to be had.
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.
Agents should be aware of an update to the guidance for landlords and tenants during Covid-19, which now states that "serious rent arrears greater than 6 months’ rent" will be exempt from the evictions ban - regardless of when the arrears started to accrue.
Topics: Covid-19
How can you differentiate yourself when starting an agency? That’s the question Catrina Merrigan asked herself when setting out to create Cloverhill Properties. With 10 years' experience in the lettings industry, she’s seen what works and what doesn’t. In her new business, she’s applied the best bits.
Topics: Business
The impact of the stamp duty holiday, the supply of landlords, and the continued strength of the lettings market are just some of the topics raised when predicting what 2021 may bring for the property sector, for these industry experts and Goodlord customers: Michael Jones & Company, Andrews, LiFE Residential, and Martin & Co Chelmsford - as well as Goodlord's CEO William Reeve.
Topics: Business
The latest figures in the Goodlord Rental Index show that the December rental market held steady, despite pandemic fears heightening during the traditionally slow month for the sector, with improved void periods month on month in most regions, and minimal change in rental prices.
Topics: Data
