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Industry faces too much regulation, claims leading regional agent

Sue, who with her partner John runs one of Belvoir’s most successful offices with 13 staff, slams the problems red tape causes for agents.

Nigel Lewis

belvoir

Award-winning Belvoir agent Sue Warburton is one of the company’s most successful operators but like many agents, despite the current boom raging within the housing market, she is worried that red tape is starting to become a significant burden for many businesses.

“The continued increase in legislation is something we all understand is needed to improve standards.

“But it has downsides too – colleagues become more fearful of the consequences of getting things wrong.

“This has been particularly the case when dealing with student tenancies, an area of our business which has grown over the last 18 months.

“We see the guidance that student housing advisors produce, and it’s not helpful.

“Belvoir Leamington Spa won The Negotiator Awards for Best Letting Agent in 2018 and 2019, but despite this, students and their families can still see us as one of ‘the bad guys’.”

Have landlords been exiting the rental market in your patch?

“We’ve been fortunate and it hasn’t affected us too badly, but we’ve seen a number of landlords wanting to sell up.”

How do you attract new landlords?

“We make great use of social media and digital marketing so we feel we are well placed in this respect.”

How do you find about changes in the law?

“As a Belvoir franchisee, we get support and updates from Belvoir.  We also use Propertymark.  Even with this level of support behind us, we find there is still a gap.

“We need access to a helpline that gives us practical advice from people with practical letting agent experience – and more than a quick response by telephone, and that includes from HF Assist.”

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November 5, 2020

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