Rental proptech platform RentalStep has launched a ‘premium’ property management service for landlords priced at just £35 a month including listings on Rightmove and Zoopla.
The figure is surprising given that one proptech entrepreneur recently told The Negotiator that it costs approximately £30 per rental listing on Rightmove.
Therefore, ‘nearly-free’ services like OpenRent and RentalStep are making almost no profit from charging landlords to use their service, and are betting on up-selling additional services such as gas safety checks, rental collection and property management.
RentalStep’s new ‘premium’ service is in addition to the company’s existing but more basic package, which offers free referencing and tenancy contracts and a one-off tenant finding fee of £20.
Lettings Fees
Liverpool-based RentalStep says it offers ‘unlimited’ advertising on the two portals within its new service, and says its premium service is a direct response to the tenant fees ban.
“Landlords only have five months until their management fees could start to rise as agents look to offset the costs of the ban,” says Rental Step founder Mike Georgeson (pictured, above).
“What’s more, over the next few months some tenants may delay moving as they consider the impact of Brexit while waiting until they no longer have to pay upfront fees to agents.”
RentalStep now claims to have 2,000 landlords signed up to its service and 9,000 tenants, who can use its platform to communicate with each other before and after a tenancy starts.
Tenants who use RentalStep can opt to build a profile on the its website, get verified and have their rent payment reported to credit reference agency Experian.
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