Ever Wondered What Your Letting Agent Actually Does for You?
For the past four weeks, I've based myself in our office. What a hive of activity it has been. What a contrast to the simple methods we used when I started Cambridge Property Lettings 32 years ago.
Today, lettings is a highly technical, heavily regulated and often stressful profession. In fact, while working on an AI project to help manage some of our compliance processes, I was reminded just how much goes on behind the scenes to keep landlords protected and properties legally compliant.
The Compliance Mountain
Take property certificates alone.
One property I recently reviewed required ten separate certificates. Thankfully, not all need renewing every year, but each one involves a chain of tasks:
- Monitoring expiry dates
- Creating work orders
- Arranging access
- Managing keys
- Receiving and uploading certificates
- Checking and uploading invoices
- Following up on failures and remedial works
Now multiply that by hundreds of properties.
Suddenly, it becomes clear why our external key shed, secured with a coded lock, always seems to have contractors collecting or returning keys.
The Legal Maze of Moving Tenants In
Even the process of onboarding a new tenant has become increasingly complex.
That's one of the reasons we introduced Goodlord. Modern legislation requires us to follow a strict process.
For example, we cannot simply accept a holding deposit when someone wants a property. We must first prepare the tenancy agreement, send it to the prospective tenant and confirm that they have opened and viewed it before taking payment.
Miss a step, and there are legal consequences.
The Race Between Tenancies
The moment a property becomes vacant, the clock starts ticking.
Typically, a Property Manager carries out an inspection immediately. This often results in urgent phone calls to contractors asking for favours:
"Any chance you could fit this in during the next few days?"
Then begins the carefully coordinated sequence:
- Check-out inspections
- Decorating
- PAT testing
- Repairs
- Cleaning
- Inventory preparation
- In-person check by the Property Manager, ensuring everything is ready for the new tenants
What often surprises landlords is how hands-on our Property Managers can be.
One recently told me that, to make sure new tenants arrive to empty bins, she personally puts the bins out, returns the next day to bring them back in, then repeats the process the following week for the alternate collection.
Taking a spare light bulb and ladder and cleaning something that has been missed is sometimes necessary.
I saw a Property Manager coming out of a property wearing rubber gloves. When I asked why, she replied a contractor had used the WC.
That's hardly in the job description, but it's what happens when people genuinely care.
The Cleaning Challenge
One of the biggest headaches in property management today is cleaning.
Professional cleaning is expensive, and while most tenants make an effort, their standards don't always match the expectations required for a smooth handover.
Last week I visited a six-bedroom student house whose occupants had lived there for four years. They were excellent tenants, always paid their rent on time and caused no issues. They had spent several days clearing the property before leaving.
Unfortunately, cleaning had not been a priority.
It took 45 hours of professional cleaning before new tenants could move in.
Deposits: The Most Stressful Conversations
If you ask many Property Managers what causes the most stress, they'll often say deposit negotiations.
Landlords quite understandably want their property returned in the same condition it was let. Tenants understandably want their deposit back.
The challenge is that today's legislation is heavily focused on preventing "betterment". In simple terms, landlords cannot receive something newer or better than what they originally provided.
There are also other ways landlords can protect themselves against the financial and legal risks that can arise during a tenancy. Our rent and legal rent protection service provides support with rental arrears, legal expenses and tenancy disputes.
Only a few weeks ago, a tenant came into the office in tears after badly staining a staircase carpet.
Fifteen years ago, the cost of replacement might have been recoverable from the tenant. Today, because the carpet was already old, only a nominal contribution could realistically be requested.
Maintenance Never Sleeps
Once tenants move in, the work certainly doesn't stop.
Maintenance issues can arise at any time, and our team is available around the clock for tenants to report problems.
A recent example involved a boiler failure. We received the first call at 2.19 pm reporting that the boiler had stopped working.
By 5.30 pm, we had:
- Arranged for the boiler to be made safe – there was a smell of gas
- Obtained two replacement quotations
- Sent them to the landlord
The works were approved on Saturday and the new boiler was installed on Monday.
That kind of response requires coordination, trusted contractors and a team that knows how to act quickly.
The Front Line: Finding the Right Tenants
Many landlords assume that once a property is advertised, the tenants simply appear.
In the first seven months of this year alone, we received over 5,000 enquiries.
Every enquiry needs attention.
Questions must be answered. Prospective tenants need qualifying. Viewings must be arranged. References need checking. Applications must be processed.
It's a full-time operation before a tenancy even begins.
So, What Does a Letting Agent Do?
The simple answer is: far more than most people realise.
Behind every tenancy is an enormous amount of organisation, compliance, coordination and problem-solving. Most of it goes unseen because, when done properly, it simply works.
When everything appears effortless, it's usually because a great deal of effort is happening behind the scenes.
If you'd like help managing the work behind your tenancy, get in touch with our team today.
