RRA increases admin workload for three-quarters of lettings professionals

The Renters Rights Act has caused an increase in administrative work for 73% of lettings professionals according to new research from Propoly.

A quarter of the 549 professionals surveyed described this increase as “significant”.

Compliance and record keeping was cited as the area contributing most to the increased workload, accounting for 18% of responses. This was followed by rent reviews (16%), and possessions and tenancy endings (14%).

The changes are also affecting the way teams work together. Half of respondents (50%) said that their lettings and property management teams are having to work much more closely as a result of the new rules.

Just 17% said their business uses one primary technology system to help manage the new administrative demands. The same proportion, 17%, said they are still relying heavily on emails, spreadsheets and other disconnected processes, while 66% said their business has a number of different, disconnected technology systems in place.

When asked where better integration between systems would be most beneficial, respondents highlighted landlord communication and decision making (17%). Tenant referencing, compliance, and tenant communications followed with 16% respectively.

This need for greater connectivity is reflected in the amount of manual work still required during a tenancy. Some 61% of respondents said their teams have to spend time manually transferring, re-entering or duplicating information between different systems over the lifetime of a single tenancy. For 16%, this happens frequently.

As a result, more than half of respondents (52%) said that better integration between their systems would improve operational efficiency. Just 5% believed greater integration would have a negative impact.

“The challenge for the sector is not simply dealing with more administration,” said Sim Sekhon, group CEO at Propoly.

“It is making sure that information can move efficiently between the teams and systems involved in managing a tenancy, without creating unnecessary duplication or additional manual work.

“As the new requirements become embedded into day-to-day operations, businesses will be looking for ways to manage compliance and service delivery efficiently while maintaining profitability.

“Technology has an important role to play, but the value comes from reducing fragmentation rather than simply adding another platform to an already crowded process."