Increase in Management Properties – Landlords need letting agents

New properties under management in London has increased substantially over the last 12 months, up 21.4% according to research from long-established rentals experts, Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings (BRRL).

Director of BRRL, Marc Von Grundherr comments: “We have noticed that these new properties have come from several different areas. The majority, have been from existing clients expanding their portfolios by one or two units. Also, there have been a lot of new entrants into the London market – one new Far Eastern buyer bought a portfolio of 17 units which we are now letting and managing. In addition, several of our
larger clients have dramatically added to their portfolios, with one client adding 14 properties this year alone and another adding nine.”

Marc continues: “Investors naturally seek out good deals when buying, but the investment is ultimately reliant not only on obtaining units rented at a good price, but also on the agent involved being on top of everything from maintenance to credit control. Happy tenants stay longer and will pay more,” he says.

Mr Von Grundherr believes that the landlords’ best interests are currently not best served by the majority of estate agents, as they ultimately sales agents, who also handle lettings as a side business. “There are many who now outsource the property management to another company,” he says, “leading to additional costs and third parties liaising with clients which is not always helpful for landlords.

“At BRRL we do not subcontract anything, and do everything in house under one roof – pre-purchase advice, lettings, property management, refurbishment (by our in-house team of builders) and accounts (including in-house tax returns). This means that our portfolio management service is efficient and seamless.

“As everything is in-house the buck stops with us,” he continues, “and so we are able to guarantee quality as well as offering reduced rates for maintenance. This assures investors that their property investments are being looked after as if they were doing it themselves.”

For more information about the London residential lettings market please contact Marc von Grundherr on
020 8600 0960 info@benhams.com or email info@benhams.com
– Ends –