Agents must be more transparent to staff and customers - call

A prominent industry supplier says lettings agents must be increasingly transparent on the services they provide - not just to landlords but to their own staff and the wider public.

Neil Cobbold, managing director of automated payment service PayProp, says anything that is hidden or unexplained by agents reduces trust for the industry. 

“Over the past five years, from where we were seen then to where we are now, we’ve come on leaps and bounds. But I do think there’s more” he explains in a video interview conducted for Letting Agent Today readers.

“In today’s day and age, needing to raise yourself above the parapet, and be clear - on absolutely everything that you do - is not something you decide whether you do. It’s a given that you must provide it if you’re going to get trust from your customer base” Cobbold tells Lee Dahill of Angels Media, publisher of LAT.

Cobbold says renting a property is not purely transactional - landlords and tenants come for the relationship with an agent, and the moment something is perceived as being hidden, the relationship falters. 

Cobbold also speaks in the video about rental reform, increased collaboration within the industry, and the move towards greater upfront information as required by Trading Standards. The video is exclusively for LAT readers, is 11 minutes long and is below.