Nearly 60% of landlords say they are less likely to use a letting agent during the next 12 months, a major industry poll of industry opinion has revealed.
Some 2,500 were quizzed by LandlordZONE sister company Hamilton Fraser, revealing that half don’t use an agent at all, a quarter use one to fully manage their tenancies and 15% used agents just to ‘find a tenant’ before then managing the tenancy themselves.
But 57% said they are less likely to use an agent in the coming 12 months with 27% undecided.
Eddie Hooker, Chief Executive of Hamilton Fraser, reckons the extra costs and additional taxes faced by many landlords in recently are driving more of them to use online self-management platforms such as Howsy and Rentr to run properties and tenancies.
“Like many industries there is an increasing shift to online trading and information more available now than ever before,” he says.
“Letting platforms with fixed fees and self-selecting services are more commonplace now than say, five years ago. They have matured and are far more transparent than ever.
“Traditional high street lettings unfortunately are suffering from increasing costs which must be passed onto someone which in most cases is the landlord.
“Sites such as LandlordZONE provide detailed guidance and education in many cases, far more so than that which can be obtained from physical agents.”
Hamilton Fraser is parent company to Total Landlord Insurance, mydeposits, the Property Redress Scheme, Client Money Protect and Landlord Action.