Part four – Leasing
The Covid-19 pandemic has been an extremely testing time for everyone involved in the rental sector, and it will have repercussions for many years to come. One thing that is clear is that tenants will have far different expectations of their home than they did four months ago. To help landlords, we’re putting together a series of articles explaining how they can unlock the potential of their properties, and offer homes fit for this new era.
Today, in part four, we’re covering everything you need to know to get properties leased quickly.
With the rental market effectively put on pause for almost two months at the height of the pandemic, it’s no surprise that there has been a rush of activity on the lettings market.
Knight Frank found that the surge in activity in the first month after the property market reopened on May 13th was the highest on record, nearly 20% higher than the average for that period.
But while thousands of stir crazy tenants spent lockdown looking on property portals for a new home, there has also been a surge in the number of properties on the market, as short lets that were previously offered on platforms like Airbnb are converted into more traditional properties, and the pipeline of new purpose-built rental homes becomes operational.
This makes for a highly competitive landscape where landlords will have to compete with each other to secure the best tenants, and to reduce void periods while the pandemic continues. So in order to stay ahead, an efficient leasing period is vital.
Here are a few tips that will help you get your properties filled as quickly as possible.
Make your property fit for the post-pandemic era
The first place to start is by making sure that your home is right for the tenants looking for something new that will better fit their lifestyle in an era of remote working and spending more time at home.
Luckily, we can help with that too, check out our previous blogs that can help you make the most use of outdoor space, set up space that enables tenants to work from home, and even adjust your tenancy to make the property pet friendly.
Remove the burden of an upfront deposit
Times are tough for a lot of people at the moment, so the last thing someone needs when moving into a new home is to put together a large upfront deposit, often well in excess of £1,000. flatfair allows tenants to move in without that payment, instead paying a one-off check in fee per tenancy equal to one weeks’ rent plus VAT.
You can then advertise your property as being available deposit free, making it stand out against other similar homes where there is a higher barrier to entry.
Make leasing seamless
Once you’ve made your property stand out, and listed in for rent, the best thing you can do to ensure that it is filled quickly is to make the leasing period as seamless as possible.
Our rental payment technology makes referencing easy, and tenants can sign up in minutes. This means that if you’ve got someone round for a viewing, they can have everything important signed and you can give them the keys before they even leave the building.
So if you’re struggling to stand out in the new post-pandemic lettings market, consider everything flatfair can do to help you let your properties faster.
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