Give your landlords a dedicated client account and automate your rent collection process through LettsPay.
This is a difficult time for letting agents with multi-pronged challenges from ever growing regulatory changes, the tenant letting fee ban, online competition and a fluid housing market. Business revolves around a solid supply of landlords yet evidence has been found that a growing number are leaving the market.
The issues causing dissatisfaction and disillusionment amongst landlords are likely to be a combination of the following:-
- Increased regulation – minimum energy efficiency standards, minimum room sizes for HMO.
- Enforced reduction in profitability – reduction in mortgage interest tax relief, restriction on capital gains tax relief for ‘accidental landlords’.
- HMRC demands of MTD requiring quarterly tax reports and digital tax statements plus associated requirements for appropriate software.
- Day to day challenges of property management and cost of maintenance.
- Collecting rent and chasing late payment/ reliability of payments.
In this climate, letting agents need to both attract new landlords and retain their existing clients. This is where an agent can use LettsPay to show that they understand their landlords’ needs and make their management service stand out.
Claire MacLean, Sales Director of LettsPay, states that their solution negates these fears and offers the following benefits to landlords and agents alike:
- “Our company offers agents the opportunity to be agile, to diversify, to cut costs,and to meet regulatory requirements all whilst improving the client experience. This will help them thrive in challenging times of rapid change and disruption
- Collecting rent – our solution allows tenants to pay by their chosen, most reliable method – bank transfer, DD, card or all three. Installments can be paid throughout the month to spread payment and ensure the landlord gets their full amount.
- With LettsPay, each landlord is given their own designated digital account with their own sort code and account number. All rent collected relating to that landlord goes into that account and fees can be paid from it. They have visibility of their funds for their entire portfolio and can clearly see transactions in and out.
- We can automate their statements making it easier to file quarterly landlord reports to HMRC.”
Competitively and simply priced, LettsPay offers major benefits to the agent on many other levels. The multiple payment options mean that they can be tailored to the tenants preference or needs leading to more reliable payment. All functions for the landlord accounts can be managed through the cloud based dashboard such as choosing when and how often a landlord is paid, making payments to suppliers and auto collecting the agent fees.
This solution also takes away the headache of compliance. With stricter AML and CMP regulations, the required visibility and traceability of client accounts has caused major problems. LettsPay’s dedicated individual landlord accounts solves this issue. Forthcoming ROPA regulatory requirements will mean time needs to be allocated to staff gaining qualifications, so the automated efficiency of the LettsPay solution releases agents to concentrate on this rather than time consuming rent collection processes.
Finally, the third important party to benefit are the tenants. They are offered a choice of payment methods and the option to pay their rent in installments throughout the month. A messaging service from the agent requests payments, provides a link to pay there and then and can send reminders when necessary.
All of these benefits are selling points for agents to offer to landlords and tenants, making LettsPay itself a great USP.
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