According to a new poll conducted by a leading industry insurance provider, landlords have given their views on the service received by letting agents; revealing mixed views on the levels of satisfaction, fees and charges.
While just over half of landlords are happy with the service provided by their agent, 42% believe their agent charges too much and 16% have had additional charges made without any forewarning.
The survey of 1,205 UK landlords commissioned by the insurance broker, found that 57% of landlords believe the fees they are charged by their letting agent are fair, but 42% believe they charge too much.
Under the subject of ‘quality’, 56% said that the service provided by their letting agent was above average to excellent, while just 18% stated it was below average to poor. Landlords also said they were concerned about unexpected deductions being made from their rental income by agents, with 16% revealing they had experienced that. The most common reason given was for maintenance work on the property carried out by the agent’s contractors.
Looking a bit deeper into the comments by landlords who participated in the survey, many felt that their agent had responded poorly to maintenance issues; sending out inexperienced contractors who charged over-inflated prices and often made the matter worse. In addition, many landlords commented that their agent did not have sufficiently skilled staff, many not even owning a property themselves and therefore not knowing how to deal with basic maintenance issues, that should be easy to diagnose and remedy.
We are pleased to say, that at Lifeboat Lettings our landlords do not experience these issues. The three owners of the business are all investors themselves and their properties are managed within the agency. All our staff are property owners themselves and are trained or experienced in dealing with the typical maintenance issues that crop up within rental properties. If you would like to find out more about our lettings management services, then please get in touch.
