Belvoir News Article

14/10/2009 - Belvoir Bites Back

One of the country`s top letting and management agencies, Belvoir, has slammed a recent Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) report which claims that tenants are being charged over the odds for a range of inconsistent and unwarranted services.

Belvoir refutes the report’s findings, saying that not all lettings agents are the same and that the number of ‘rogue’ letting agents who are able to set up without any professional expertise or knowledge about the industry, are in a very small minority.

Mike Goddard, CEO of Belvoir said: “The CAB report is not only damning to lettings professionals who work hard to ensure that everything is done by the book, but also paints a false picture of the practices property lettings and management companies undertake.”

With 73% of those surveyed by the CAB claiming to be unhappy with the level of customer service received from their letting agent, Goddard draws attention to the fact that the 1,300 tenants who took part in a survey were targeted as potential complaints. He said: “The CAB aimed the questionnaire at those who have had a bad experience and not provided a voice for tenants who have been well looked after by their letting agent. “It is unfair to tar everyone with the same brush. There are many companies out there who, like Belvoir, implement and embrace the principles of quality customer care.”

Belvoir is the UK’s leading lettings specialist and has a growing network of over 140 franchised offices that stretches across the whole of the UK, managing a property portfolio valued at more than £1 billion.

According to Mike Goddard, the report’s most common complaints –repair delays, the lack of safeguards for clients’ money, and tenants experiencing an uncooperative service from their agents, could easily be avoided if all letting agencies adopted a customer-focused approach. “At Belvoir, all of our franchisees receive extensive training. Our mandatory intensive three week training course is followed by a programme of continual training, support and mentoring, with on-the-job experience increasing franchisee knowledge of property and rental law.” He continues: “Without good communication skills and a sound knowledge of residential property, a high level of customer service is impossible to deliver. I would advise that before any prospective tenants sign up with a letting agent they carry out some in depth research.

“It is simple things like checking what customers have to say about the letting agent and making sure that the company is a member of an accreditation scheme such as the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) which will contribute towards a good experience when renting.”

“I understand that there are companies out there who may not be working as hard and therefore take advantage of tenants in the process. If this continues there may be a call to further regulate the residential property industry in some way but until this happens, it is important for companies like Belvoir to lead by example.”



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