Vesper Homes, which rejoices in being a ‘pioneering proptech London estate agent’, has developed an Alexa Skill to make life easier for landlords and tenants.

Using an Amazon Echo, landlords can receive instant spoken replies to a multitude of questions about their rental properties, 24 hours a day. All landlords signed up to Vesper Homes’ fully managed service receive a free Echo Dot, which can provide all manner of details associated with their account and tenancies.

Questions the landlord can ask Alexa include: ‘When is my rent due?’ ‘When is my break clause?’ ‘Has my rent been paid?’ ‘What is a Section 21 notice?’

But it is not just landlords who benefit, as tenants will also receive an Echo Dot, which they can use to report a problem with their rental property. Tenants often complain of non-responsive landlords and letting agents when it comes to reporting issues with their property but using Alexa should get round this, ensuring problems are easy to report and log. Tenants can tell Alexa what the issue is, such as the boiler not working; this then comes through as a ticket to Vesper Homes, who will act on it.

James Cameron, Director of Vesper Homes, says, “Alexa is just one of the solutions we have come up with to improve the landlord and tenant experience, with more to come.

“We aim to deploy a leading-edge technological platform with a variety of differentiated, client-driven features and processes aimed firmly at improving an already superior service for both landlords and tenants alike with the addition of an enhanced digital drive and presence.”