Every year the lettings industry faces new legislative changes and a recent survey in Rent Round found that after the last 12 months, some 53% of landlords are uncertain whether they want to remain a landlord. The main reasons behind this were uncertainty about property prices post COVID, fears around future tax increases and worries of rent defaults after furlough ends. In two of these scenarios’ agents have little influence. But the last one they do.
As letting agents, you offer a very valuable service and can provide real assurances to protect the life of the landlord’s asset. So, where in the process can you add value to every landlord relationship?
Want to know how you can simplify and speed up the lettings process? Download our mini guide – The modern formula to simpler and faster lets.
Offer flexible referencing
As there are different levels of referencing, offer value to your landlords by giving them a choice. If you’ve used basic referencing, add value when you see a more in-depth check into a prospective tenant would be sensible in order to safeguard your landlords’ asset.
Basic checks can be enhanced with Open Banking and offer deeper insights into a tenants’ financials. This helps to build a better picture for both you and your landlord to help you choose the best tenant faster. Almost a quarter of landlords in our recent Landlord Survey said their biggest worry was being able to identify good quality tenants, so offering a solid referencing check right at the start of the process or even using pre-qualified tenants who have got a Property PassportTM is a powerful way to demonstrate your value to a landlord.
Monitor tenants for changes
This year has shown us that personal circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. Having the ability to monitor your tenants whether that is just in the form of good communication or using a facility like our Tenant Monitor service will keep you up to date with any major changes in the tenants’ credit file. Being alerted to any changes early on will allow you to be better prepared in advising your landlords and helping your tenants, nipping any potential problems in the bud.
Keeping up to date with legislation
In our recent survey, 40% of landlords said they would like more advice on legislation and tax changes. Legislation is becoming an increasingly complex part of the lettings industry and any landlord that isn’t using a fully managed service could feel they are drowning in it. Even those using fully managed services may benefit from greater understanding of what is happening with recent changes such as the eviction bans, Right to Rent changes and the Debt Respite Scheme.
Add value with insurance
Whether you offer insurance protections as an option or include as standard within your fee structure, protecting landlords with Rent & Legal Protection will offer them peace of mind should the worst happen. Right now, we are in a situation where more tenants are falling into deeper financial difficulties than usual. With Rent & Legal protection, your landlords will have peace of mind that the rent will continue being paid if a repayment agreement cannot be reached with the tenant. Using insurance is the simplest way to build financial confidence in landlords who just want to protect their investment.
All this saves both the agent and the landlord their most valuable asset – time. Time that is best spent on growing the business further.
You can find out how to simplify and speed up the lettings process in our recent mini guide – The modern formula to simpler and faster lets.
Or if you’d like to find out how a simple end to end pre-tenancy management solution could add even greater value to your landlords and tenants, book a demo.