Tips For Easier Repairs This Christmas.
December 8, 2014
Santa might not be the only one calling this season – don’t forget your tenants this year.
IT may be time to deck the halls with boughs of holly, but while it’s tempting to abandon yourselves to festive frolics come tinsel time, your responsibilities to tenants don’t stop up just because it’s the silly season. Wise letting agencies will plan ahead to ensure their clients aren’t frozen out, locked out or in a whole host of other sticky situations, asking themselves bitterly, “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?”
They may not be at the top of your Christmas list but our top tips for keeping clients happy this festive season might just be the best present you’ll get this year:
Make sure your tenants know your Christmas opening hours and how to get hold of you in an emergency. Nobody expects you to forego the turkey in order to man the phones in an empty office (which is where an online repair reporting service could come in handy – more about that later), but it is reasonable for tenants to have some means of contacting their letting agency in an emergency. Just not a brussels sprout related one.
Substitute location, location, location for education, education, education. Common pain points can sometimes be headed off with a bit of knowledge and common sense – perhaps encouraging tenants to undertake a few simple self-help steps in key maintenance areas before getting in touch, could pay dividends.
Speaking the language. It can be hard enough to get your point across at Christmastime, let alone when you’re trying to tell someone who doesn’t speak your language. For those with an international tenant base, ensure your staff have been through their client lists closely with the colleague who will cover them before they take annual leave.
Standards may slip under the mistletoe, but not on the phone. It can be easy to let things slide when you’re operating a skeleton staff and you’re dealing with the inevitable energy crash after Christmas, but it’s imperative that you remain meticulous when it comes to note-taking and record-keeping. ARLA and TPOS members are required to keep written communications with tenants for 6 years and for good reason – not having an accurate account of all contact is the fastest way to land in hot water when it comes to a dispute. We’ve seen it happen before but it’s easily avoided.
And now for some festive cheer – why not let Fixflo make all your Christmas wishes come true this year with our effective and easy to use repair reporting software? With a 14 day free trial period and only a 15 minute installation time required, why not let us cut the time you have to spend on tricky customers in half this year? To be set up in time for Christmas, just contact Fixflo for a 15-minute remote demonstration by 15th December. At last – something to celebrate!
You May Also Enjoy
High Quality Modular Homes for the UK
Are you looking for added accommodation space in your garden / on your land? Modular Living Homes by tutumHOUSE offer a new way to live – minimalist in form, rich in experience. “There are approximately 9.6 million homes in the UK with a garden shed, and around 52% of the population owns one.” asgardsss There…
Read More 
The most stressful places to move to in the UK
With more people in the UK moving homes during summer than any other season and the average cost of moving in the UK rising to over £14,000, picking the right place to move to has become more crucial than ever. Luckily, new research from Pay Less for Storage reveals the UK cities that make life easiest…
Read More 
Time-Traveling Estate Agent Sequel Climbs Amazon Charts
A UK Estate Agent Currently Bringing Joy to People’s Lives – Shame He’s Fictional… Eric Meek, the fictional estate agent created by author Dale Bradford, is back for a second outing in The Time‑Travelling Estate Agent 2, a sequel that is already climbing Amazon’s bestselling time‑travel rankings. Estate agents were recently highlighted as the third…
Read More 
Is it finally time for lenders to back green homes?
Andrew Smith weighs the risks and rewards Property developers are increasingly pitching green homes to lenders; however, with sales cycles slowing down and repair costs rising, is now the right time to back sustainable builds and at what price point is there market demand? Sustainability is continuing to shape our future of construction with the…
Read More 
Breaking Property News 24/07/25
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. OpticWise – digital infrastructure in commercial real estate If your building were a product, how would it perform on the user experience scale? Week 9: Experience as Infrastructure – Designing for Human-Centric Buildings Welcome to Week 9 of our 52-week journey into the future…
Read More 
UK Housebuilding Falters as Construction Hiring Flatlines
New research from Inventory Base reveals that UK construction industry employment has increased by almost 11% in the past five years, but there has been less than 1% growth in the past 12 months. Inventory Base’s analysis of the UK construction industry shows that in 2024 (latest data available) it employed an estimated total of…
Read More