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
Housing Insight Report: June 2026
June’s housing market remained active, but buyers and renters continued to show caution. Buyer registrations dipped, while sales agreed remained broadly stable. In lettings, demand continued to outstrip supply, with nine applicants per available property. The average number of new prospective buyers registered per member branch dipped during June 2026, with an average of 55.…
Read More 
Private rent and house prices, UK: August 2026
Main points Average UK monthly private rent increased by 3.7%, to £1,393, in the 12 months to July 2026 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is up from 3.3% in the 12 months to June 2026. Average rents increased to £1,451 (3.8%) in England, £843 (4.5%) in Wales, and £1,016 (1.7%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More 
Scrapping Stamp Duty could unlock 300,000 extra home moves a year
Economic growth in key regions, such as around Cambridge and the ‘tech corridor’ being held back by stagnant housing market. Rathbones argues that a more mobile housing market could help unlock part of the UK’s £5.5 trillion housing wealth. Reforming Britain’s property tax system could unlock more than 300,000 additional housing transactions each year…
Read More 
New-build property across Great Britain increased in price
The average house price for a new-build property across Great Britain increased to £501,658 in July 2026. The West Midlands recorded the largest average price increase, with the average new-build house price rising to £418,281 in July 2026. Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the smallest average increase, with the average house price rising to £347,846 in…
Read More 
Where London leavers are paying a premium for green space
New research from UK Property Development (UKPD shows that Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire command the highest green space premiums among London’s commuter counties, with homebuyers paying a premium of up to 15.3% to live within a stone’s throw of public green space. UKPD has compared the average asking price of properties for sale within…
Read More Breaking Property News 18/8/26
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Removing inefficiency that comes from humans having to understand where every piece of information lives Thought Leadership by Fredérick Wakim, Founder of ImmoAdmin “For most of the software era, making a property management platform better meant adding something to it. Another dashboard. Another…
Read More