Letting agents and landlords will need to keep up with the lifestyle being offered to tenants by new build-to-rent developments in order to stay competitive in the coming decade.
The Director of Lettings and Sales at one of London's oldest agencies shares why property management has been one of its keys to success and four ways to improve your processes when it comes to looking after your clients' biggest assets.
Reviews are vital to gaining the trust of new landlords, says the co-founder of a multi-award-winning lettings and property management company in Vauxhall, South London.
Minimising voidage periods is only one part of the equation. Agencies need to be able to demonstrate to potential landlords their tenants will not only pay their rent on time, but also take care of the landlord's home like their own.
You can still charge tenants for additional services, as long as the decision to take up these services is optional, and tenants will pay for services that will make their lives easier.
Renters living alone in the UK spend 36% of their income on rent, found research by Goodlord.
Goodlord analysed 55,000 tenants who applied for a property through our platform and found that 20% cannot rent without a guarantor.
Tenants are making more enquiries online, outside of standard office hours, and agencies need to be able to respond and qualify them faster, says the founder of a virtual assistant for agents.
The ban on tenant fees, coupled with the popularity of deposit replacement schemes, means it could cost renters much less to move home when the Tenant Fees Act comes into effect, and potentially increase the demand for lettings.
Provide your landlords with an incomparable service that includes managing legislative changes; finding and retaining the best tenants, and ensuring they have the right insurance policies in place to protect their investment.
Build-to-rent looks set to dominate the private rented sector in the coming years. There’s no question that it’s become more difficult to be a private landlord in the past decade. Like letting agents, landlords have had to contend with more regulation, while also being hit by increased stamp duty and the abolition of mortgage-interest tax relief, making the private rented sector a less attractive investment option for private landlords.
Topics: Customer experience
“We’re an asset management business primarily,” says William Taper of Willmotts in West London. “Yes, property management is a people business, but you also need to make sure that you're looking after the clients' main asset. If the asset is well looked after and well-maintained, ultimately the tenant and client will be happy, it’s a win-win.”
Topics: Customer experience
Reviews are vital to gaining the trust of new landlords, says the co-founder of a multi-award-winning lettings and property management company in Vauxhall, South London. “Reviews help new landlords to gain insight into the business and how we operate and put their mind at ease,” says Bradley Davis of Homewood Homes, which has won allAgents Best Letting Agent in SE11 for the past two years running, based on its reviews. “We’re not into doing a hard sell - we just try to put our new landlords' minds at ease and show them that other people who've used us are happy with our service. Reviews help to back that up.”
Topics: Customer experience
“How fast can you let my property?” will be one of the first questions any landlord will ask a prospective agency. One of the key reasons landlords turn to agencies is to minimise the amount of time their property is empty but also attracting and retaining great tenants who will not only pay their rent on time, but also take care of their home as if it was their own.
Topics: Customer experience
The Tenant Fees Act is now law, which means you can no longer charge tenants any fees for granting, renewing or continuing their tenancy, unless they’ve been specifically made a permitted payment by the new legislation. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that the ban on tenant fees means that tenants will no longer be a valuable customer for your agency. You can still charge tenants for additional services, as long as the decision to take up these services is entirely up to the tenant and isn’t a condition of granting, renewing or continuing their tenancy. Sceptical? There is ample evidence that tenants will pay for services that make moving and setting up their new home easier.
Topics: Customer experience
A new analysis of the UK rental market shows the cost of renting a place solo costs renters almost 40% of their monthly income.
Topics: Customer experience, Data
Twenty percent of prospective tenants cannot afford to rent a property without using a guarantor.
Topics: Customer experience, Data
Sixty percent of agencies’ leads are received outside of standard office hours - and agencies who don’t respond to enquiries immediately could risk losing out on potential tenants, says the founder of an AI-powered virtual assistant for agents.
Topics: Customer experience, Tech
Demand for lettings could increase following the introduction of the Tenant Fee Ban on 1st June, due to a significant decrease in the costs of moving for renters.
Topics: Customer experience, Compliance, Data
Competition for landlords is fiercer than ever. Landlords are facing a raft of changes and will likely be reviewing their current services, which means providing them with an incomparable level of service will be essential to keeping them both in the market and on your books. The foundations of this service will be continuing to give your landlords the right advice and support to manage legislative changes; finding and retaining the best tenants, who will pay their rent on time and treat their landlord’s properties as they would their own home; and, ensuring landlords have the right insurance policies in place to protect them in a worst case scenario.
Topics: Customer experience
