Letting agent's typical customer is a reluctant landlord

A high proportion of landlords who use the services of letting agents own just one rental property, never intended to let it out – and have no issue about agents’ fees.

The findings emerge in a survey released by the Property Academy.

It sent a 22-question survey to agents representing over 3,500 branches, who sent it out to their own landlords, achieving over 1,500 completed responses.

The intriguing results show that landlords who use agents are reluctant, unfortunate or amateur: 64% own just one property, and 52% did not buy the property with the intention of letting it out, suggesting that many would have sold their former home if they could done.

A high number of landlords live remotely from their property, with 45% living over 40 miles from it and 11% living 15 to 40 miles away. Not surprisingly, for 83% of landlords, the location of the agent chosen to market and manage the property was the most important factor in their choice of agent.

They were not bothered by an agent’s social media presence or market share, but did look for a range of services and support (cited by 79%), and 66% were swayed by membership of a professional body. Most of the landlords (43%) asked only one agent to give a rent appraisal, compared with 31% who asked two agents and 23% who asked three.

Asked what influenced them in their final choice of agent to let and/or manage their property, the landlords cited ‘trust’ of the agent as the most important (52%). That compared with just 26% choosing the agent with the most competitive fee, and 6% who went with the agent suggesting the highest rent.

Pressed further on fees, 47% of landlords said that while they wanted the agency fee to be as cheap as possible, it was not the main reason for their choice of agents. Only 3% actually chose the agent with the cheapest fee. For 31%, fees were not an issue and 19% chose an agent who was more expensive but who was liked for other reasons.

Pleasingly for agents, 73% of landlords would recommend their letting agent to a friend.

Asked to cite their concerns as landlords, 35% cited void periods, 33% cited property damage and 27% said rent arrears were their biggest worry.

The survey points out that its findings are not representative of the landlord industry, saying that only a quarter of professional landlords – those with bigger portfolios – use letting agents.

But it does paint an interesting picture of the typical landlord who does use an agent, and for whom issues of customer service and trust are of paramount importance.