Breaking Property News 02/12/24
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.
Letting agents partner with tlyfePRO and access rent ready qualified tenants for free
As we reach the end of Q4 and a New Year approaches, I caught up with Adam Pigott, CEO and co-founder of tlyfe the tenant cycle App (Openbrix) to find out the final scores on the doors and what news he had. Knowing that he and the team have now presented to hundreds and hundreds of letting agents in person across the country in 2024 I knew he would be in high spirits and have quit a lot to say.
Adam Pigott, ‘Well, we have almost reached 100k of new tenant customers who have downloaded and are using the tlyfe App. Which now makes the UK’s largest single source platform, a real win for the tenants and of course for letting agents too.’
‘When we first started out the core idea of tlyfe, which in case anyone does not know stands for tenancy lifecycle, was to nurture, serve and elevate the position of anyone who is or wants to be a tenant in the UK.’
‘It was all about getting tenants ‘Rent Ready’ to fast track them to the front of the queue with our unique pre-qualification feature. And help them build a positive credit history and use their rental payments to help boost their credit score. Knowing it was important that they could keep all their documents together we added that feature, and of course the jewel of the service was for tenants to be able to safely ‘share’ all these documents with a letting agent or landlord instantly.’
‘Tenants can also view and their TDS-protected deposit, and we added the feature of an information hub that they could use at any time, to support them and give guidance.’
‘All of what I have just said sounds simple but it took literally years of development and refinement to get to where we are today, and in the end there were three core components we needed to put together, ID Verification, Right-to-Rent and Affordability.’
‘On ID verification, we built the App so a tenant can both verify their ID and share it securely with an Agent or Landlord. Once a tenant has their ID verified they can share it as many times as they like, it gives them complete control.’
‘Everyone knows that you are required by law to prove your ‘right-to-rent’ in England. Using our quick and easy to follow process tenants can validate this at the click of a button, ideal for overseas Tenants.’ (Pictured – Adam Pigott CEO Openbrix/tlyfe)
‘Regarding affordability, it was important that a tenant understands how much rent they can afford. To give them the best chance of securing their next rental property. Which is where our r Pre-Qualification tool to become a ‘Rent Ready’ Tenant came in. Once they do this they can share the results with letting agents to secure priority viewings.’
‘But then when we launched the tlyfe App helping to manage the entire lifecycle of a tenancy we realised it was an equally powerful tool for letting agents, because at no cost, and no contract if they came onboard with tlyfe PRO they would get the benefit of Rent Ready Tenants who were pre-qualified. That is when we set up this Letting agency side of the operation to essentially gift business to agents who now number over 2,500.’
‘And the rest is history, tlyfePRO is now also the industry leading tenant onboarding solution for letting agents. Transforming the tenant onboarding process to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and boost tenant satisfaction. And I and the team have been doing a whistle stop tour of the country getting that message across to letting agents.’
‘I think that because of my past life running and then owning my own Lettings operations I really understand what is useful. Our onboarding tool for agents to do the pre-tenancy compliant work links the tlyfe App and the letting agent dashboard, the tlyfe Agent Hub which is interactive with immediate updates.’
‘The benefits for Letting Agents then became really apparent, there is tangible time and resource savings. Rent-Ready applicants, reduces the time spent on background checks and reference follow-ups. Which streamlines processes leading to quicker property placements, reducing vacancy rates.’
‘tlyfePRO is quality assured, our thorough screening ensures that reliable tenants, minimizing future issues and rent payment concerns. But the really great piece is that tlyfe provides these Rent-Ready applicants to agents for free, making it a cost-effective and valuable addition to their services.’
‘Just imagine our partner agents are mitigating risks, they can select and work with reliable tenants, reducing fall-throughs and minimising future issues for themselves and their landlords. The agents know with certainty how much the prospective tenants can afford and because references including a credit check, employment, previous landlord and AML checks we de-risk their businesses.
Andrew Stanton Executive Editor – moving property and proptech forward. PropTech-X
You May Also Enjoy
How to Clean Your Rental Property for a Full Deposit Return
Two-year mortgage deals the lowest they’ve been since 2022 – but will they remain?
CP12 Landlord Certificates: What They Are and Why You Need Them
Horse Guards Parade property prices up 17% since last Trooping the Colour
What landlords need to know about the upcoming Renters Rights Bill