“We're a fairly traditional agency in our approach, and it works. We have real continuity with landlords. They like that we're traditional because they are as well,” says Beverley Myott, one of the directors at County Lettings, a Hertfordshire-based lettings specialist.

Charlotte Campbell knows that agents aren’t one size fits all and believes agency qualifications shouldn’t be, either. That’s why Charlotte, who is co-hosting a Goodlord webinar on empowering your staff, set up The Able Agent a year ago, to offer an alternative, online training option and qualification for estate and letting agents.

The growth in open banking opportunities comes at the right time for letting agents. Landlord costs are rising, with increasing legislation to comply with, changing customer expectations and the impact of the pandemic. Small improvements to the lettings process can go a long way and open banking can offer a more seamless and fast service, to help keep landlords and tenants happy.

“We've wanted to do it for a long time. Covid-19 was the push that we needed,” says Matt Dilkes, Christopher Shaw Residential, on setting up a series of Youtube videos to share latest news and updates with their clients.

Estate agent Redbrik has been expanding its operations in recent years through the acquisition of three carefully selected companies.

In an ever-changing lettings industry, customer expectations are growing rapidly - and agents may have to ask themselves how to strike the right balance in what they can offer. Ricky Purdy, Director of Lettings at Dawsons Estate Agents, shares four areas where the right balance could give the best customer experience.

A lot has changed in the property market in the past few months and the dynamic between sales and lettings has evolved in the wake of the pandemic and ensuing legislative and policy changes. In a recent podcast, Hamad Al Qubaisi, Lettings Manager at Barrows & Forrester, and Goodlord’s Director of Sales, Costas Frangeskou, spoke with Tom Bower, Head of Marketing & Communications at Barrows & Forrester, about these changes and what they see on the horizon. Here’s the breakdown.

HMO management is an opportunity for letting agencies to drive more revenue, says the director of a lettings agency that’s established itself as an expert in the area. Neil Baldock, who co-founded Chelmsford-based Charles David Casson with his brother, Matthew, says the pair saw a niche in the market for HMO management after the law changed two years ago, which meant all properties with five or more people living in them had to be licensed.  

The Chancellor’s summer statement, ‘A Plan for Jobs 2020', comes as nearly all restrictions from the lockdown have been lifted, and moves us into the “second phase of our economic response” to the pandemic.

“I think the current situation proves that lettings is the most valuable part of an agency business,” says Neil Baldock, Director at the Chelmsford-based estate agency, Charles David Casson. “One: because it’s what gives you a valuable asset that you can sell. And two: because the cash flow from it will keep us going through these times.”