A new online letting agent, ClickTenant.com, has launched this week.
It claims its launch heralds “the beginning of the end for expensive high street letting agents”, saying that it is “set to break the stranglehold of traditional agents by offering landlords the opportunity to advertise and rent their properties for free”.
The business, which advertises on Rightmove and Zoopla, and on its site describe those listings as “free”, will offer all landlords the chance to advertise and let every property they own for the first let without charge. In return, landlords are encouraged to share an advert about the business on social media.
ClickTenant says it will offer full management services at a fraction of the usual cost.
Co-founder Simon Vaughan said: “Our experienced team have been successfully running a national online letting agency in the student sector for a number of years already.
“Through StudentTenant.com, we have learnt that it is all about working very closely with our customers.
“The ethos of ClickTenant.com will be to work in partnership with landlords.
“We are advertising their properties for free, and in return, we ask that they advertise our business. This could be either through a post on social media, or by word of mouth. We know the importance of building a strong relationship from the very beginning.
“We see huge potential for growth in what we are offering.
“What landlord wouldn’t want to advertise their property on all of the major portals for free, and have the tenant credit checked? We also offer all of the full letting agent services, at a price that we haven’t found anyone else to be matching.”
ClickTenant co-founder Danielle Cullen said: “Many agents will have no choice but to transfer lost tenant fees over to landlords. As an online business, we don’t have the huge overheads associated with running a high street letting agency.
“We have automated a lot of the internal processes, making the whole business much more efficient and streamlined. Viewings and bookings can be managed online, credit checks can be carried out in a few clicks, and an array of additional services can be selected through instant quoting systems through partner integration.
“Therefore, we have the ability to offer cheaper letting solutions, underpinned by enhanced technology, at a time when landlords will be looking to cut costs.”
It’s all about the terms and conditions. I have a question? How will this platform work when tenant fees are banned. Just reading the terms and conditions because if it’s free for the landlord to let, (only the first property) and the monthly management fee is so low how will any money be made? Plus the landlord has to do their own viewings?
Tenant Services
Reserving a property advertised through any of the above services.
1. If a Tenant wishes to proceed with renting a property which is advertised through any of our services They agree to go through our reservation and reference checking process.
2. In order to reserve a property through us, the Tenant willl be required to pay a non refundable booking fee of up to a maximum of £99 (Inc. VAT) per Tenant subject to the Tenancy Agreement, as well as for any additional guarantors as may be required by the Landlord. For private residential properties (subject to our agreement with the Landlord) this will cover application processing, reference checking and enables the Tenant to hold the property until formal agreements have been completed with the Landlord. The Tenant will be made aware of any fees payable on reservation of the property.
3. When renewing a tenancy for the another fixed-term the Tenant will be required to pay a property renewal fee of £99 (inc VAT) to secure a place at the property for the next fixed-term period.
4. The Tenant must be aware that both booking and renewal fees are non refundable.
5. The Tenant must be aware that they must pay any due reservation fee within 48 hours of agreeing to reserve the property.
6. The Tenant must be aware that if it is required to pay a booking and reservation fee to reserve the property and do not pay this fee within the 48 working hour period, we will then request any outstanding payment is paid by the Landlord. If the Landlord specifies that they are not willing to pay the outstanding balance, The Tenant must be aware that the property will then be re-advertised and they may risk losing any partial fee paid.
7. The Tenant agrees to fill out and return any due application forms, specifying information about themselves and any proposed guarantor. The Tenant agrees to return completed application forms to us within 48 working hours from the point these forms are received.
8. If it is requested that a guarantor is provided by the Tenant to guarantee any rental payments, it is up to the Tenant to inform them of their obligations and to provide the relevant contact and personal details for them to be suitably referenced.
10. The Tenant agree to take all necessary actions to ensure their guarantor submits the required information for reference checking within 7 working days of this information being requested.
11. The Tenant understands that the information specified within the reference report may have an impact upon your contractual agreements with the landlord.
12. You are aware that on the basis of the information provided within the reference report, the Landlord may request an alternative guarantor is put forward. The Tenant must be aware that in this eventuality, a further reference check of the alternative guarantor will be required, for which a further fee of £30 (Inc. VAT) will be payable.
13. The Tenant must be aware that ClickTenant.com solely provides the reference reports to the Landlord and does not have any input into the impact the information of the report has on the Landlord and his or her contractual agreements with you.
14. The Tenant must be aware that payment of a reservation fee does not guarantee they will enter a tenancy for any particular property. It is the first stage of the reservation process. The Tenant must be aware that the reservation process is not complete until they have entered into a legally binding contractual agreements with the Landlord.
15.The Tenant agrees that where we are operating with the Landlord under the Silver or Gold packages they will complete all of the necessary legal documentation within 7 days and must also advise any applicable guarantors to do the same.
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#13 says it all – “ClickTenant.com solely provides the reference reports to the Landlord and does not have any input into the impact the information of the report has on the Landlord” – That’s what I call working “very closely” with customers!
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Probably best these new companies stop telling people what they are going to do, and invariably fail.
Keep your powder dry poppet and give us all an update when you have actually changed the world.
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Does it not occur to some:
fees are tax deductible
most landlords own one property
most don’t know the law
most don’t have time nor want to learn it
most have better things to do than viewings (and fielding enquiries)
many WANT to use an agent
and want the agentvyo be hyper local
Sure, estate agency has a threat from the online systems but do letting agents? Let Only services for experienced full time landlords – sure, but it’s a small part of the market.
Managed services- a local agent is worth every single one of those tax deductible pennies.
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“ClickTenant says it will offer full management services at a fraction of the usual cost” – What is the saying, you pay peanuts!
“Through StudentTenant.com, we have learnt that it is all about working very closely with our customers.” – Working very closely and being internet based, is this possible. We though can see our customers face to face and have a working knowledge of the properties because we take the time to see it, being so “very closely” located to our high street office, which allows us to work even more “very closely” with our customers.
“The ethos of ClickTenant.com will be to work in partnership with landlords” – So, not with the tenants then. Interesting model.
“We are advertising their properties for free, and in return, we ask that they advertise our business. This could be either through a post on social media, or by word of mouth. We know the importance of building a strong relationship from the very beginning.” – Would this be called bribery? Anyway, interesting that it is only conditional on the fact your are free rather than the standard of service.
“What landlord wouldn’t want to advertise their property on all of the major portals for free, and have the tenant credit checked? We also offer all of the full letting agent services, at a price that we haven’t found anyone else to be matching.” – Maybe because they went bust!
“We have automated a lot of the internal processes, making the whole business much more efficient and streamlined. Viewings and bookings can be managed online, credit checks can be carried out in a few clicks, and an array of additional services can be selected through instant quoting systems through partner integration.” – As suspected, no personal touch; how do you marry this to working “very closely” with your customers!
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Phew…glad to hear there is a new start up that will change the face of agency…I actually was worried that this would be the first week in years when a new game changer wouldn’t appear. I’ll let the crowdfunders know there is another multi million pond biz on its way to tap them up.
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Yawn.
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With the full management service I wonder who will test the smoke alarms on the day the tenancy starts to comply with the 2015 Smoke Detector regulations ?
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plus right to rent checks.
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