Business news and insights for letting agents

How can you use data to demonstrate value to your landlords? How can you use this data to improve your performance further? You can monitor and analyse any information you gather to make intelligent and informed decisions, and more easily convince landlords why they should choose your agency. 

Whether you know it as rent guarantee insurance or rent protection insurance, its purpose is normally the same: to protect your landlord's investment and help you protect your agency's bottom line. Here's a guide of what you should look out for in the policy wording when choosing the best product for you and your landlord.

"Fifteen years ago, we were 25% managed, 75% let only. Now, now we're 80% managed and 20% lets, so it's completely flipped around," says Matthew Wilkinson, Partner at the maidenhead-based property management and lettings agency, Wilkinson Estates.

"Developers have got into HMOs because they realise it's a way to take a property and maximise the revenue from it, really squeeze the juice out of the investment," says Neil Baldock, Director at Chelmsford-based letting agency, Charles David Casson. "There are more people coming into the market now, but you've got a lot less competition in the space because there are a lot of agents that just haven't caught up with the times."

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

The Victorian phrase “as safe as houses” well surmises the security of the housing market as, whether they are buying or renting, people will always need somewhere to live. But whilst the foundations of the property market might be relatively stable, the consumers that buy-in to this market are an evolving generation. Now the next generation of renter is coming of age.

Things are still uncertain in the lettings market, which is where a strong Rent Protection policy comes into play for the managed proposition of agents. Here's Maria Lloyd, Insurance Development Manager at Goodlord, to take us through some of the trends in the insurance and lettings space. Watch her video, or read on for her thoughts.

“Property management is now becoming a much more integral part of our offering,” says Greg Tsuman, Lettings Director at Martyn Gerrard, an award winning estate and letting agency operating across North London. “About two years ago, 75% of our portfolio was let-only landlords - then we decided that we were going to phase out the let-only service.”

"We decided that we had to future proof our methods of working," says Alex Bloxham, Partner and Head of Residential Lettings at Bidwells. "We were going to make a big investment in an office space so we needed to think about the future, and how we'll continue to work."

How can you upsell landlords - new and old - from let-only to your fully-managed service? Paul Shamplina, Chief Commercial Officer at Hamilton Fraser, joined Goodlord's Oli Sherlock for a webinar discuss their own approaches. Watch the webinar on-demand or read on for their top tips.

In 2020, the lettings market was reeling from the closure of branches and restrictions that only allowed essential moves to take place. Many agents scrambled to set up virtual viewings and move their traditionally office-based processes to a remote working set up. Now, both agents and tenants are taking lockdown in their stride. While the first one saw limited tenant movement, the market's now busier than ever - with new and interesting trends emerging.