We have experienced a positive start to July and it was quite encouraging too see the larger properties letting again.
It just niggles me knowing that although business is being done, we should be busier. Most of our new business comes from recommendation, we have all been here for longer than I care to remember and most people know my colleagues and I very well. More importantly, these people know that we are experienced, knowledgeable & competent. But the market remains relatively quiet and despite the negative press this industry can sometimes receive, I find it slightly amusing how naive some landlords can be!
Despite the combined knowledge and experience of me and my colleagues, it is both sad and frustrating to see both landlords and tenants electing to use the services of on-line companies. Individuals operating out of office suites or desperate, newly opened estate agents who offer fees you can’t match, pay negotiators a fair wage out of or indeed, run a business. I’d wager that many won’t be in the business long-term but that doesn’t help the established agents in the short term.
Look at the letting agents in your High Street. If they aren’t members of ARLA, NALS, NAEA, RICS or the Law Society, you should ask why? Voluntary regulation carries with it an increased financial burden for the letting agents in question. We pay for Professional Indemnity Insurance, Clients Money Protection Insurance, operate proper Client Accounts and have Regulatory Body Membership. It is not cheap, so imagine how we feel when an agent opens with no compliance costs, no insurance and undercuts our fees taking both landlords and tenants to their unregulated world exposing them to risk. Without training, notices and contracts can be drafted poorly resulting in landlords failing to gain possession which can cost them thousands of pounds. And, this is after they’ve possibly charged tenants fees they shouldn’t have paid!!!! The sad fact is anyone can open as a letting agent with no training, no experience, no track record and no protection.
The amount of regulation with which agents must comply is onerous. It is therefore galling to see so many agents simply ignoring these rules. For example, many agents still don’t publish compulsory fees. How do they get away with it? Partly this is due to the fact many tenants do not know their rights but mainly, its due to the fact that no one polices or enforces such matters.
Only MP’s can change the Law, but successive Governments steadfastly refuse. Instead they call for change and point the finger of blame at the industry as a whole. Governments won’t regulate and want agents to effectively regulate themselves. Their reason? I guess it is perhaps due to the horrors which would be realised if agents were forced to regulate.
We manage a large portfolio of apartment blocks belonging to private, individual landlords and with the backing of our maintenance team and workmen, we’re available on 24 hour call out for all eventualities. It is easy renting a property,anyone can do it. Getting the right tenants and running everything properly is the important part.
If you already own a large number of properties and you’re looking for someone else to take over the management, then please get in contact with us. Maybe you are not satisfied with the level of service being provided by your existing agent and reading this latest blog has made you think again. Then let Devere Letting Bureau help you.
