Business news and insights for letting agents

Short-term lets are seen as both a boon and a threat to the rental sector. Now that the hospitality industry is starting to kick into gear after a period of Covid-related restrictions and limited activity, short-term lets are making headlines - but is it to the detriment of buy-to-let landlords?

Christopher Watkin is the lettings industry's biggest advocate for content marketing, advising letting agents to create articles, reports, videos, and more in order to reach new landlords. "If you try and go out there and sell stuff to people, they get switched off, so why don't you actually give them something which is of interest?" Watkin shared suggestions for letting agents looking to try this approach in an on-demand Goodlord webinar. Read on for his top tips or watch the full webinar on demand now.

We're constantly adapting to new rules and regulations but we're also
breaking every system down to see where we can improve," says Thomas Izod,
Branch Manager at Kallars in our free guide, How to maximise your agency's potential. "Now’s the time to start preparing for the changes that are coming in. You're not maximising your returns if you're still doing the same thing you were doing ten years ago.”

Virtual viewings are here to stay. Agents have woken up to the fact that virtual viewings can help to filter their candidates and avoid wasting time on numerous physical viewings - a strong example of how agencies have demonstrated agility and pivoted to find a new solution to continue bringing value to landlords. Read more about taking your virtual viewings to the next level by downloading our free guide, How to maximise your agency's potential. 

Rent is probably one of the largest transactions that your tenants make each month - and the recurring way that it's paid is equivalent to a very expensive subscription. Like all subscriptions, you want to receive the right amount on time and to be able to easily track when it has been paid.

As the UK summer heats up, so does a letting agent’s diary, and the traditional spike in lettings can make or break the profitability for some agencies. With the stamp duty holiday over or starting to wind down in England, Scotland, and Wales, many agents around the UK will have more time to turn their attention to the lettings side of the business, where we're seeing heightened demand.

"We ensure that we invest heavily in using the most current, up-to-date and efficient proptech that's out there. You can provide a great service with really good staff, but if you haven't got the systems to back that up, then you're falling short," says Beth Perry, Operations Director at Zest Sales and Lettings. "I think it's a combination of things coming together, having great staff, and using intuitive technology. That's really the forefront of the property industry."

"Will physical branches continue to play a role in the future? There are probably a mixture of answers, depending on where you are, what your brand has meant, and how you've placed yourself in the market locally or regionally at least," says Ricky Purdy, Director of Residential Lettings at Dawsons. "High streets are a changing environment, more so in the last 12 months than ever before."

A guest blog by Tara Sparrow, Sales Director of Reapit.

It is quite apparent that rent arrears remain a significant issue for landlords and tenants alike. Putting a figure on the extent of the issue is a variable that is somewhat difficult to place accurately but the problem is likely to persist for quite some time.

Although there are set criteria to establish a tenant's suitability to rent a property - ID, credit, residential and income - there are other legislative and industry-level forces at play that need to be understood as we look to the future. Amongst them, the new right to rent process, the end of the furlough scheme, and the pressures around falling levels of stock for agencies and tenants should be kept front of mind.