Rightmove is asking for feedback from agents on its new ‘Rent in Five’ plan, announced yesterday.
The ‘new vision’ for its lettings service aims to improve the lettings market for agents, landlords and tenants.
Christian Balshen, Rightmove’s head of lettings, is leading the transformation. He says that the vision involves linking every step of the journey of letting a property, from sending a lead to collecting the keys.
The five step plan is flexible and agents can choose to use one or all of the features if it helps their business.
Balshen explained: “We’ve been looking at how we can improve the rental process for lettings agents for a while now. We know letting a property can be time-consuming for agents and frustrating for tenants. Our early stages have included various versions of tenant passports, video viewings and an appointment booking tool, and we’ve learnt a lot along the way.
“We know from our trials and from agent feedback that to bring about the level of change that the industry needs we need to go further. To make a fundamental difference for agents we need to help you by improving the entire lettings flow, from lead to moving in. And that’s what we’re announcing today.
“Our vision is that our customers can choose to receive pre-qualified tenancy leads. Agents can then allow selected pre-qualified tenants to book an appointment online via Viewings Manager. In the next three months, we’ll be starting to integrate Viewings Manager with the leading CRMs. An agent will then be able to book a reference in one click, a process that Van Mildert pioneered and we’re focused on perfecting. Finally, we’ll provide the platform to help agents onboard that tenant efficiently.
“We know that the biggest priority for most agents and landlords is finding the right tenant. So, our solution isn’t to start with fewer leads and reduce the choice of tenants. It’s to provide a high number of qualified leads and maximise the opportunity to find the most suitable tenant for each property. Our next job is to help agents deal with these leads efficiently. That’s the reason we bought Van Mildert and it’s why we’re integrating these services to create a vastly improved lettings experience for agents and for prospective tenants.”
He added: “I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to agents recently. It’s very clear that integrating these five key steps will make a significant difference to the operational efficiency of lettings agents and provide a more positive experience for potential tenants. This new approach is yet another step forward in helping lettings agents to continue to be as successful as possible.”
Rightmove says that this is how its “Rent in Five” steps will work in practice:
Comments (51)
Robert, unless I have spectacularly missed the point I really don’t think that’s RM’s David Anderson.
I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be on here slugging it out with you.
No. I AM DAVE ANDERSON!!!!!!!!
I’m Dave Anderson and so’s my wife
My dog is Dave Anderson
Thanks Simon, I’ve had a text from Christian telling me that and an email from David saying so too.
The point you missed Simon; it doesn’t matter if I was replying to the real Dave Anderson, Kristjan Byfield, you or Kristjan Byfield’s dog, all who claimed to be the fake David Anderson, the point I was making was the same.
Whoever is the fake David Anderson, they have done the real Dave Anderson and Rightmove a dis-service. Perhaps that was their intention.
I have heard two rumours this morning. 1- that more than one Dave Anderson exists. 2- Dave Anderson is Anthony Codling’s MI5 handle.
Also, the bad guy in the Matrix doesn’t have a first name, does he? If he did, it would probably be Dave. You should take the red pill, and start Rummage5 🙂
To be fair my dog has amazing typing skills- which was caught on camera during the daring rescue of Phil Spencer!
New vision? My version of CFP which integrated with Van Mildert over a decade ago was able to do most of this with a click of a few buttons and didn’t require a huge spend with Rightmove.
Can someone explain how automatic pre-qualification including credit check will generate maximum leads? Sounds like a mandatory credit check for tenants, who like their “leave it to the portal agent” suffer from the dreaded FOMO.
Frick me, what next?
Oh to be able to use the Michael Jackson popcorn gif on this forum right now
A good letting agent will have a large database of renters looking to move asap, I doubt that some even get listed on the portals tbh. As soon as they add the property to the CRM it alerts the database…..simples!
Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. For years we’ve been bemoaning Rightmove’s lack of innovation and evolution- and now we are deploring their slothlike energy with Machiavellian intent. Connecting the dots in lettings is not a new conversation- but this ongoing evolution must and will happen- and this will happen in various environments with various players involved. The space will be driven by agents and who they choose to align with- and that will result in winners and losers….but that’s business! To talk about agents like we are all the same, with the same goals, objectives, motivations, etc is nonsense. Some agents will bite Rightmove’s hand off and cut costs going to other suppliers- others will retain other services and keep RM simply as a portal- the question is- will those agents be happy to effectively fund products & services they aren’t using? Will this create another tier in the RM subscription package? Only time will tell. I’m pretty sure the concept of collaboration and joined-up services is not a unique thought and existed long before computers were invented so some claims in the comments seem somewhat over-reaching…..maybe……
Rightmove want to hear agents thoughts, well that will make a nice change, we’ve been telling them for years that they are too expensive and they’ve not changed a thing about that! I believe that the latest price hike letters went out a couple of weeks back, not that I had one as I haven’t been on RM for over a year and a half now and I don’t miss it, the monthly invoice or the price hike letters!
I also don’t need any portal to manage the lettings process. We have a CRM that more than effectively does this, because that’s what it is designed for. Nothing irritates me more than portals and referencing companies that try to take over the lettings process as a bid to ‘innovate’ when it only serves to overcomplicate the process…. I am waiting a call back now for exactly this reason from our referencing company.
Also, who wants people to be able to book their appointments? Nobody. I am sure we all run our diaries in the same way as we run our business, to maximise efficiency and minimise costs. Allowing those enquiring to book directly through a website only serves to give them an expectation that they can book a time only to be told later that that’s not really possible and there is nothing worse in this day and age than building an expectation that is not met!
Stop trying to justify your worth, tie agents in more and show unnecessary ‘innovation’ Rightmove and listen to what your customers are telling you here and now, drop your pricing and the arrogance.
Exactly this
We run a small letting agency now, having previously been a multi agency sales and lettings. Ever since we downsized we have not been on Rightmove. Guess what, we still have many more applicants for properties than actual properties and better still, our inventory has still increased! Letting agents do not need Rightmove and combined sales and letting agencies could send Rightmove a notice of intent by cancelling their lettings subscription; or perhaps they already are!!!!
But I want another company to do all the work for me, can’t wait for Rightmove to have approved contractors so my tenants can simply contact Rightmove for maintenance issues. I just want the income, not the hard work that goes with establishing a good working relationship with my tenants; who needs that tenant relationship when there is no need to be involved.
Come on Rightmove, have more foresight, be more disrupting; in fact I will be happy to change the name on my shopfront window to Rightmove Lettings. Isn’t that where it is all leading to!
That is exactly what they would like! You must have been in some of the board meetings! 🙂
OTM are working on revealing something similar.
Sorry not sorry RM, but may be too little too late. We’re one of the agents that don’t list for lettings with them, the public -Landlords and tenants doesn’t really view them as a lettings based portal. Guess this has been realised and they need to retain/win back those agents who have dropped the lettings accounts so they can increase traffic numbers.
After another unashamed 10% increase just for our sales listing whilst we are about to enter some pretty stormy waters I find it really difficult giving them any attention whatsoever. Their treatment of agents is just so poor.
Yes i’ve also heard about OTM, they purchased Techlet if im not mistaken, but if this is the way portals are heading, as an agent would you really want to have your CRM to be included in your monthly fee all owned by the portal? As well as them having your data you can’t leave, prison sentence springs to mind. Not suggesting they would do this but the portals need to stop trying to get involved with everything else, next thing they will be supplying hubs in the town for you to work in.
Sounds like RM is getting worried with it’s lack of innovation, this is a desperate way of trying to tie in agents. The top CRM companies will already have tenancy agreements that are created automatically. RM are going to slowly drown, they should stick to what they do best, listing properties, the general public always go their first probably, but most importantly drop the monthly fees!
I really think that Z who own most of the CRM`s are going to happily allow integration with RM`s new way of ******** more money from us….NOT
Sounds like Robert May wants a medal.
This is a discussion forum for the industry, its the only place where the industry can discuss anything openly without fear or favour.
It’s the only place where things can be discussed without intimidation or threat being obvious or hidden away. If anyone wants to challenge what I’ve said this is the place to do it.
Attempting to pass this of as your vision is vexatious, it isn’t. This is you trying to defend your weak spot. Insulting me isn’t professional and isn’t a good thing to be seen to do.
Bore off Robert
Someone thought it was a good idea to buy a great company, headed up by a great guy, with a great product and somehow that would be the permanent fix to an obvious vulnerablity of an aging platform. It was a response to agents removing letting listings and just keeping sales with you, that highlighted the achilles heel and the letting fee ban just made the need more aparent.
If the marketing department hadn’t tried to pass this off as new or yours when Christian knew full well it was neither you wouldn’t be making a show of yourself in front of the entire industry and its investors.
Sorry Robert, whilst I have no idea whether or not you had an idea that resembles this, it is certainly something that was being discussed by a number of service suppliers around the industry many years ago. RM’s lack of interest/inability/refusal to innovate at the time was certainly part of the reason that things didn’t happen back then.
Claiming this as your own master plan (that nobody else had considered or discussed) simply isn’t true. It is a shame, though, that it’s taken so long for the behemoth to wake up.
If you can predate this to 2005 (first proposed) or 2008 when it was the main proposal for Think Property to get more traction for GMGPS it wasn’t my idea. What you have confirmed is this is not a new vision.
It is a source of frustration that Thinkproperty never benefitted the industry as it should have and was very well placed to do.
David, were you the Captain of the Debating Society at your prep school by any chance?
I for one commend Rightmove for at least attempting to improve the experience of landlords, tenants and agents. This can ONLY be a good thing!
it doesn’t do any of those things Simon, this is a not thought through strategy to make Rightmove sticky with letting agents.Lettings is hampered by volume not helped- more ‘sorry it’s taken’ to every yes isn’t what agents needPre qualification is less effective than affordability based search at controlling volumeThe referencing bit is what Van Mildert have been doing for 11 years- no change there uless it now free referencing but 9-14 free references a month ( typical lets per moth) for a £1000 / month subs is massively expensive referencingAutomatically completed tenancy documentation is something I’ve been doing since 1994 for an additional £300 a year.As I said above I like Christian and Van Mildert and introduced all of this vision over 10 years ago. I appreciate the whole Dale Carnegie who to win friends and influence people bit but this is only attempting to add value to very expensive way of advertising letting listings.Do the maths- average register 200 listings, average tenancy 22 months therefore 4.5% of the register lets each month. That’s 9 lets for a typical agent with a loyal register of landlords. 9 little letting fees does not justify a huge portal spend.I appreciate the need for corporate agents to defend Rightmove and keep independent agent subsidising corporate subs but nothing about this benefits agents as much as it benefits the portal
“vetting everyone who decides to get a rental and move in with their latest lover.” This statement alone shows exactly how outdated you are with your thinking. It’s actually shocking, should women be in the kitchen as well?
“If Rummage4 ‘affordability filtered’ letting search to their agents Rightmove lettings would be an empty room” – Firstly, if this was your idea, then why doesn’t rummage4 already have this in place? you have had over 10 years to build it, you could have closed down all of the other portals!! secondly, let’s be honest, regardless of filtering tenants, RM wouldn’t be the empty room would it?.
“Automatically completed tenancy documentation is something I’ve been doing since 1994 for an additional £300 a year.” Have you considered going after Goodlord for also taking your vision?, it feels like Goodlord is getting away lightly here, come on Robert let’s close them down as well.
Robert- did you invent the internet as well?, maybe Thomas Edison & Alexander Bell also stole your ideas!
Nice try Zoe- I’ve not mentioned who is loving who.
You cannot change the history of this. Its something I first muted in a dining room in Solihul in 2005
In 2011 in Cambridge Christian Balshen delivered a presentation ( with his shirt hanging out) this vision to my audience and when the tenant fee ban can in we were looking to introduce this again when Rightmove bought Van Mildert
All I have said is that this new vision is not new and it is wrong to claim it is.
This is an aggression by Rightmove against service suppliers such as Let Alliance, FCC Paragon, the lettings Hub and all other referencing suppliers all who have a better relationshoip with their agents than Rightmove. Do you think they will just roll over and accept it? I was very specific to say Rightmove lettings not Rightmove so that attempt to twist my words failed too.
As for why it’s taken so long, that doesn’t matter I don’t have investor money funding me and so don’t have the resouces to do things that GMGPS should have done in 2008/2009.
Your attempts to discredit me with the whole misogynist white male cliche hold no water at all an anyone who has worked with me will testify
REFEREE SAYS BREAK!
Don’t rise to the bait Robert and keep it clean guys. Personal attacks are absolutely unnecessary and out of order don’t like to see it at all anywhere
Thanks
This is supposed to be a B2B discusion forum, attempting the whole word twist, social media, pile on as a way discrediting an individual or the point they’re making is laughable.
Robert, I can only apologise, if I knew that this chap had his shirt hanging out when he delivered his vision (which I thought was your vision, but maybe I am nitpicking now), I would never have made the comments I did!
Its called Blackmail.
The best feedback you can give to RM is your cancellation notice.
Don’t give them anymore information or data.
They will use the same data to shaft you with extortionate monthly fees.
Did exactly that over a year ago. 15 or so years of moaning and it was then as if a cloud had lifted. Will never go back.
If I got a Pre qualified tenant via RM it would definitely count against them…. Not interested in anything they have to offer
Make no mistake this is Rightmove admitting and addressing their biggest vulnerability. I like Christian, I built Van Mildert into Jupix in 2011 and he was a keynote speaker at my Inspiration and Innovation day 10 years ago when I got him to outline exactly this ‘innovation’ to an audience of the 100 agents who attended.
This isn’t their vision it’s mine!
this is Rightmove attempting to make themselves sticky with the lettings industry- Landlords do not give a flying fig about agents being on Rightmove, they just want the void period to be as short as possible. Given the volumes 1million residential sales, 2 million lets each year, lettings is the bigger traffic volume generator. Losing 2/3rds of the listed stock particularly when sales listings are reduced would be devestating.
For over 10 years I have maintained letting agents don’t need to be on Rightmove. Whichever way you cut this up for the average letting agent this is very very expensive tenant vetting and referencing. If Bryn Cole, Andy Halstead and Heidi Shackle and the others each offered rummage4 ‘affordability filtered’ letting search to their agents Rightmove lettings would be an empty room.
The dislike button can’t change history or fact. It can’t dent determination or achievement. Hit it as much as you like; that’s all you’ve got.
Robert, quite a few of us have said that RM needs to move upstream into the agency’s stack and operations to add more value and reduce the mindbending inefficiency of handling leads. Which is exactly what 3, 4 and 5 are.
The irony is that this will make agents more dependent on RM. Integrations = dependence.
Volume in lettings is the killer, there are far more efficient and effective ways of controlling and qualifying tenant applicants than vetting everyone who decides to get a rental and move in with their latest lover.
As I’ve said below in reply to Simon Section notices as AST’s is a function of CRM unless Rightmove want that action too.
£1000 subs to reference 9-14 tenancies a month is hugely expensive.
Viewing integration with CRMs??? even more than sales the requirement to give 24 hours notice to a tenant means cracking that nut – applicant to disgruntled tenant will be a master stroke of ‘Yeah right’
The innovation ought to be concentrated on controlling applicant expectations and volumes not bringing in house a service that’s working well enough already
“they just want the void period to be as short as possible”
Whilst to some this is the case, my experience is, to a lot of landlords, this is secondary.
Agree. Vast majority of landlords i’ve dealt with in 15 years would accept a short void period if there was a way to guarantee a tenant that would pay the rent and look after the property.
Also agree, from my experience the slight majority of landlords were more concerned about the quality of the incoming tenants than the void and would glady sacrifice a few weeks rent for that.
I am not sure why anyone would be downvoting you Robert. You’re making perfect sense.
These people must love being robbed blind.
It’s a £6billion company that earns huge profits from the smallest and most easily bullied agents. I am highlighting that 2/3rd of their traffic is down to a sector that has no need to pay through the nose and no pressure from landlord clients that they have to be on Rightmove.
David Anderson doesn’t like I’ve pointed out he’s copied my homework, that this is neither new nor their innovations. Its fairly obvious why they don’t like what I’ve said.
Imagine what will happen when Jason Tebb and Charlie Bryant do this too.
Easily Bullied.
Damm Right. Weak.
MrLondon52. Its not ‘an irony’ its a deliberate attempt to make Agents more dependent on them. If Agents are doing their job as they should be, this isn’t needed. Portals are there for general listing and should stick to that and charge a reasonable fee for it, not keep bringing in, not needed, ‘new ways’ of justifying their high subscriptions.