Zoopla has announced the newest members of its Letting Advisory board, an independent, non-regulatory group, launched last year, which is designed to give agents a greater say when it comes to decision making at the property portal.#

The Lettings Advisory Board, which takes place on a quarterly basis, now includes:

• Carrie Alliston, Lettings Director at Hunters

• Julie Ford, Founder of Gothard Rowe, More Than Mediation

• Maxine Fothergill, managing director of Amax Estates & Property Services

Andy Marshall, chief commercial officer at Zoopla and Vice-Chair of the Lettings Advisory Board, said: “We’re excited to expand the scope of the board and welcome Carrie, Julie and Maxine. Each of them will bring a unique perspective to the group and will help ensure that have a truly representative picture of the market when engaging with the Government.

“I look forward to working together to continue our journey to create a more sustainable lettings sector for both consumers and agents.”

Comprising 13 influential figures, the board has been fortified to provide a cross-section of views from across the property lettings sector.

Michael Cook, national lettings managing director at Leaders Romans Group and chair of the Lettings Advisory Board, commented: “It’s great to get subject matter experts onto the board such as Carrie, Julie and Maxine. All have an excellent track record and broad experience across the industry and myself and the rest of the board are looking forward to working with all of them.”

The primary focus of the work to date has been identifying key parts of the lettings and management process that require improvement and where agents and property software can unlock a better experience.

One important area over the last year has been engaging with government on the Rental Reform Whitepaper. The board set out detailed proposals to the government outlining areas to improve the consumer experience of renting and how a rented property register could form the foundation of better protections for the quality of rental supply.

In time, this would evolve into a formalised decent home declaration for individual properties, displayed on property listings and giving consumers more visibility of the quality of features in the home and driving the agenda to improve quality in the sector.

As part of this engagement with the government, the board also provided insight into the volume of landlords leaving the rental market and how this is eroding supply at a rate much faster than new additions to the market through the Build to Rent sector.  The Board believes that a healthy rental market needs an adequate supply of quality homes from as many sources as possible, as any erosion of the market size puts pressure on rents and can work against the push for improving the quality of homes overall.

Cook added: “The board has recently made some strong representation to Government in line with our agenda for a more sustainable PRS and we will look to turn our attention to positively shape the detail and practicalities that goes into the Renters Reform Bill.”