UK Landlord Forum / Life

The level of service quality in the rental market for tenants is taking the pi*&, i'm so sick of it.

This is my vision of what it should and could be like:

From a tenant's point of view:

As a tenant, I find a property via rightmove, zoopla etc, I then watch the uploaded video of the property that features the agent giving an informal, honest, no bs, walk & talk around the property. (because there's no reason why estate agents shouldn't be doing video's by now!) I phone the estate agent and I'm asked questions like, how am I, hows my day and then we start discussing what I'm looking for.

After our talk the agent has gathered information about me and what sort of property I'm looking for, I'm also asked briefly about who I am and my rental history etc (purely because the agent actually gives a crap and wants to build long term relationship's and offer the best service!)

We then book a time to view the property and meet him/her on location, at that point the agent asks if we would like a tea or coffee when we arrive.  We arrive and are met by a smiling person holding coffee that is a pleasure to communicate with and told, who the neighbors are and what there like, as well as what the local area is like and all the details that you need to know ( distance to shops, transport, doctors, dentists etc) - (this should be standard procedure of course because it would take 5 mins research).

We're then told that we get a two week trial of the property saying that if for whatever reason we don't like the situation we can move out. Because the agency should be focused on building long term and high quality relationships and trust, this will mean that the tenants are happy and the landlord has good quality tenants.

As we all know, the barriers to entry in this sector are low and the demand for the service is high, the market has been filled with poor service standards and a total lack of focus on long term relationships for to long. There will always be a requirement for this service but it does not have to be like it is right now. It just needs an injection of care and a real focus on the end to end experience.



From a landlord's point of view:

I'm not a landlord, my uncle is, but he's in Malaysia so I can't ask him what sucks about the current service offered by agents.
But you might? If your a landlord, what would be a perfect & realistic experience?   

What an excellent post.

"I then watch the uploaded video of the property that features the agent" - That is an EXCELLENT idea. They are already doing video inventories now so I am thinking it's only a matter of time. Pretty sure you have just identified a gap in the market for letting agents. I don't know if current websites' systems (Rightmove, zoopla, etc) will support video but is definitely the way forward.

Realistically tea and coffee suggestion is a bit much, may not be facilities at the house, however this is YOUR vision, so all good

Your trial reminds me of a radio advert recently for a sofa shop, (DFS i think). A woman says something like "I would like a house, live in it for 3 months, then see if  I like it, is that ok?" - lol relating it to an interest-free period of buying sofas, nothing to pay for first 3 months or something. From a buyers perspective this would be a nightmare. Don't think I need to explain why.

Agree with your other points though.


My ideal vision for a landlord would be simply for agents to actually do what they advertise. Sounds simple but is the hardest thing to find.

Also, it would be good to have a letting agent that actually employs tradespeople, not just hiring contractors. All repairs and maintenance under a certain amount would then be included in their monthly fee. Along with rent guarantee services it would be the ultimate passive investment.

Plus monthly statements and perhaps quarterly reports to show condition of property where they have inspected, recommendations, changes their tradespeople have done, and other info.