This is part of a long-awaited regulatory shake-up of the private rented sector which has been a long time coming. I, along with my wife, her sister and our brother-in-law, run a successful lettings agency in Sheffield, called SheffLets. Like many responsible agencies, we broadly welcome what the Government has announced. Our industry has suffered as too many rouge landlords have exploited a lack of regulation, not just to the disadvantage of tenants, but to the disadvantage of responsible landlords and lettings agencies like ourselves who provide quality housing and follow both the letter and spirit of the law.
However, for agencies like mine, the lettings fee ban poses a serious threat to our viability. Industry experts have estimated that the fee ban could lead to up to 4000 jobs being lost from the industry. Higher costs may end up being passed on to tenants through higher rents and, in the worst-case scenario, others could be forced out of the business deepening the housing crisis.
But we believe there is another way. Other industries have been much quicker to take up new technology as a means of streamlining processes, cutting overheads and delivering smarter services their customers, and the property industry is catching up.
We initially came up with the idea for Vouch to help manage and simplify the tenant application process within our own lettings business, based in South West Sheffield’s busy student corridor. Our product automates much of the referencing process, saving both time and money. We estimate that Vouch could help agents save between 65% and 85% against a typical referencing cost. Given the incoming fee ban, we have also built in the capacity for income generation within the system from utilities and broadband, providing a valuable service to tenants by helping them get moved in quicker and providing a welcome relief from lost lettings fees for agents.
Vouch is just one way that tech could offer solution. New challenges encourage innovation and it is up to us as landlords and letting agents to rise to that challenge. We look forward to seeing other agencies benefit from using this technology, and to the other solutions that our industry colleagues bring forward.
In the meantime, I would encourage you to find out more about our new digital tool for letting agents to see how much you could save. For more information on Vouch, visit vouch.co.uk.
