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    Lettings Agents : An Important Source of Security for Tenants

    Lettings Agents : An Important Source of Security for Tenants

    Renting in Manchester is at an all-time high, and one of the biggest bugbears among tenants is the unreliable landlord. We’ve all heard a few horror stories about leaks, broken toilets and heating problems all being ignored by property owners and, invariably, it’s the tenants who suffer. That’s why it pays to rent your property through a trusted lettings agent.

    Private landlords have no obligation to market their properties through lettings agents; they are free to let their properties via their own arrangements (as long as they are following tenancy law, of course). However, the trouble with renting directly in this way is that the landlord might be an unknown quantity. Unlike renting through a reputable lettings agent, there may be no online reviews for the landlord. There may be no easy point of contact like a head office. It might also be near impossible to contact his/her previous tenants to find out what s/he is like.

    When you let through a trusted lettings agent, you have the benefit of an extra level of protection. This is true for all tenancies. Your average tenant might not know that there are two types of service offered through agencies to landlords: a let-only service and a managed service. The managed service is like the ‘gold standard’ of letting: it means that the agency is in control of handling all aspects of the tenancy, including things like unforeseen repairs. Of course, the agent still has to get the ‘OK’ from a landlord before doing work on the property, but any work that is completed will tend to be done by the agency’s own staff or contractors: known, reliable and trustworthy people, who have the relevant qualifications for their role and have been reviewed by previous customers online.

    With a let-only service, a landlord simply pays for the agency to do the marketing and the tenancy paperwork; after that, the landlord is responsible for managing the tenancy. Now, interestingly, while this option might seem less desirable from a tenant’s point of view, the agency still has the legal right to intervene if the tenant’s basic needs are not being met at the property (for example, if the tenant is left without a working toilet, hot water or electricity). In these circumstances, an agency will arrange repairs or other temporary accommodation on the landlord’s behalf if s/he can’t be contacted. So, in other words, if your tenancy goes through an agency, you can trust that major problems will be addressed, regardless of how reliable your landlord might be in terms of repair work.

    Other issues you might encounter with a private landlord might relate to the end of the tenancy or arrangements for tenancy extensions. What if your tenancy is about to finish and you haven’t heard back from the landlord about that extension you requested? With an agency-arranged let, you won’t have that problem, as systems are in place to send out renewal letters and relevant information automatically – these are benefits that private landlords without agency support may not have, and this could lead to unnecessary worry for tenants about where they are going to live in the coming months.

    All in all, then the benefits of renting through an agency are clear. It gives you that extra security when there are unforeseen circumstances – in short, you’ll get peace of mind. The place where you live is one of the most important parts of your life – do you really want to chance that on an unknown and non-vetted landlord?

    At Julie Twist Properties, all our landlords are fully vetted before their properties are put on the market with us. What’s more, the vast majority of our landlords choose our managed property packages, meaning that tenants can rest assured that their tenancy needs will be looked after. Why not browse our rentals pages for your next home right now?

    Contact us today to see how we can help

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