Letting agents are getting better at managing repairs in rental properties.

However, some agents risk losing landlords to their competitors if they have poor repair management processes.

The report, by repairs reporting software firm Fixflo with the support of ARLA, surveyed 250 letting agents with 750 branches between them.

The report added in data from more than 70,000 repairs handled through the Fixflo system.

The results show both threats and opportunities for letting agents.

Key findings are:

  • 85% of repairs are completed within a week
  • 46% of property managers know a landlord who has switched agency due to a repair related issue
  • On average each property requires three repairs per year
  • On average each repair takes 90 minutes of staff time to resolve
  • One third of repairs are reported out of hours
  • Repair requests in Polish outnumber those for the next four languages combined

Rajeev Nayyar, managing director of Fixflo, warned of impending changes to the law which will make it incumbent on landlords and agents to respond quickly to tenants who complain about disrepair in a property, or risk losing the ability to reclaim the property.

Nayyar said: “With fundamental changes to the repairs process taking effect for new tenancies in England from October 1, time is running out for agencies and landlords to get robust repairs processes in place.

“Agencies that fail to comply with the requirements could face both financial and reputational damage.”