Another issue that we've noticed in the industry is the practice of charging contractors to undertake works at managed properties. We believe that this has become the industry norm to ensure that the letting agent makes money, and it's a practice that we find highly unprofessional.
The problem is that only poor contractors agree to pay back to the agent 10% to 20% of their commission, which leads to poor workmanship. In some cases, the work may not even get done because the agent doesn't check the work. Moreover, the prices of the work get increased by at least the amount of the commission, which means that all landlords get charged more. Ultimately, the agent makes more money from doing poor work, and the landlord makes less or no profit.
As industry expert and CEO of ARLA Propertymark, David Cox, said, "It's unacceptable for letting agents to charge contractors to undertake works at managed properties. The cost should be agreed between the landlord and the contractor, and any commissions should be transparently disclosed."
At Rocket, we believe in providing fair and transparent services to all our clients. That's why we were delighted to help a client who built a block of flats in West London but was struggling to sell the units. We reviewed the rental levels, advised on furniture packages, and then managed the unit rentals. We even placed a letting agent on-site to provide the highest level of pro-active service to the 70 units. Our letting service enabled the refinance and dealt with snagging issues, without profiteering, to ensure our client maximised their investment.
