An ex-ARLA supremo says technology is the best way for letting agents to cope with a huge rise in telephone calls.

ARLA president turned agency mentor Sally Lawson claims agents are reporting up to 10 times the number of daily incoming calls in recent months.

The spike has been fuelled by a lack of property stock, with around 150,000 (and rising) private rental homes being sold now each year according to HM Revenue and Customs.

This means in 2019, an agent received an average of six enquiries per property – now Rightmove research claims they’re getting 20 calls from prospective tenants for every single home they advertise.

Lawson says: “This situation is understandably stressful for potential renters, and we’re seeing the media reporting tenants having to offer over the asking price or move outside their preferred location or compromise in other ways in order to secure a home.

“And of course the flip side of this, is that it’s also creating a great deal of extra work for the letting agents who are dealing with all of these enquiries.

“Agents are finding themselves constantly picking up the phone which of course takes time away from everything else they need to do, whether that’s talking to new landlords, developing additional services, or otherwise supporting the growth of their revenue and business.”

She insists there are solutions to support agents and reduce time spent on calls.

She recommends services like Agent Response, Moneypenny and PropCall, as well as Virtual Assistants who can process and triage applications as well as handling additional admin relating to the business, leaving agents free to focus on other tasks.

Lawson continues: “The ideal scenario would be that the Government reverses the Clause 24 rule which would enable landlords to pay tax on their profits not their turnover – meaning retaining their properties would once again become a viable option. But that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. So that means agents must be proactive and change their systems in order to handle the huge volume of phone calls and applications.

“If they don’t, then the team are not only being diverted from what they’d normally be doing, they’re also experiencing an increased amount of pressure which could result in staff loss. All of this will cost the business money and won’t be conducive to growth, revenue generation, or a healthy work environment.”