Lettings Update: Autumn 2019

Student Season Kicks Off

The Student Season has kicked off early this year! Unipol changed their release date to November, triggering an early start to the lettings season and creating a huge opportunity to pre-let properties for 2020 before Christmas. The pre-Christmas lettings period always delivers well organised, mature groups of tenants and we expect this year to be our busiest yet.  Our student experts have been working hard with our HMO Landlords to list the properties ready for 1^st November.

All-Inclusive Living

We offer all-inclusive living to student and professional Tenants across Leeds. Life can get busy, sowe wanted to take all the hassle out of utilities for our Tenants with rent, energy, water, TV licence, contents insurance and broadband all included in one payment. There is no additional fee to our Landlords when we market your property bill-inclusive but there are many benefits to this strategy. All-inclusive properties not only attract high quality Tenants, but also ensure you won’t be lumbered with any unpaid utility bills at the end of the Tenancy.

Welcome to The Student Hub

The doors are now open on the Let Leeds Student Hub! This is a brand-new chilling space on the ground floor that students can use before, after and in-between viewings. There’s everything they need to kick back and relax with a beer while meet up with their fellow housemates-to-be and regroup after their viewings including a PlayStation, Pool Table, comfy sofas and Ping Pong.

Leeds Lettings Market is Buoyant

Things are moving quickly, and the lettings market is currently looking strong. We have already let 22% more lets last month, compared to the same period last year. Now is great time for Leeds Landlords and there is a high appetite for properties – partly due to fewer people deciding to buy at the moment.

Completed Acquisition

Following the announcement of our fourth merger in September, the merger with Parklands Estate Agents is now complete. Click to read more about our ambitious growth strategy. We continue to be on the hunt for additional opportunities to join forces with other independent agents in Leeds, in an effort to strengthen our resources and help combat the effects of the Fee Ban.

Another Award Win for Let Leeds

We attended the Best Estate Agent Awards down in London and came home with a top accolade. We have been rated Exceptional in the top 3% agents in the country and are extremely proud of our performance. The award is judged against a number of criteria that includes Rightmove stats and a Mystery Shop to measure customer service. Over 25,000 agencies were reviewed so to be in the top 3% is a huge achievement. Click here to read more about the Award.

Feefo Reviews

We are currently operating at an average of 4.3 out of 5 starts on Feefo. We use Feefo as our review platform to check on the happiness of our customers. At the beginning of the month, we send requests to all viewings that took place the previous month, all Tenants after move in and all Landlords with Tenancies that started that month. We had some fantastic Feefo Results this month and some lovely 5 Star Feedback in particular:

• “They were the only agency I’ve come across to date to be meticulous in their adherence to housing law.”
• “Annabel sold my property for me – she was professional and responsive. I would highly recommend her.”
• “Let Leeds is the best agent I have ever used as a tenant. the matter-of-fact way Let Leeds presented them was informative and refreshing”
• “Very friendly, even when things got delayed, Joe was very patient and helpful.”
• “Thanks, Steve, for sorting out the various issues you have dealt with this week on my behalf.”

We also had some constructive criticism too and will be pleased to use this to gain a better understanding of where we need to improve and what to focus our next staff training sessions on. All feedback, whether it’s positive or negative is left on our Feefo portal and website so that we are totally transparent with our customers.

Team Updates

We were sad to see Lettings Administrator, Danica, leave but happy to see her following her passion, having secured a job at the prison service on a graduate fast track programme to fulfil her degree in criminology. We welcome Millie in the Leeds team, while Sam and Grace continue to settle in well up in the HMO team.

Events

We attended the National Landlord Investment Show at Olympia on 5^th November and were encouraged to see such an interest in investment in property in Leeds, particularly from those Landlords located in the South. Purchasing property as a buy to let investment remains a smart choice, especially in a good yield area like Leeds with such a buoyant rental market in both the HMO and professional markets. We are also attending the Leeds Annual Landlord Conference at the Hilton in Leeds on 20^th November. Hosted by Leeds City Council, it is a great opportunity to network but also for Landlords to consult with the Councillors on key issues.

Staff Training

Training is absolutely integral to our business and ensuring optimum customer service. We are starting the team on NVQ L3 Lettings and Property Management to receive their formal qualifications as well as our ongoing internal training that includes best practise on property listings, marketing, photographs, stock checks and floorplans. Next month, we are also embarking on Investors in People.

With Student Season continuing apace, it’s set to be a busy run up to Christmas and we are looking forward to meeting plenty of new Tenants and Landlords over the next few month.

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