Upad, the national online letting agent set up by landlord and entrepreneur James Davis, has closed to new business. Only yesterday it was still putting up new listings on Rightmove.
A notice appeared on its site today warning that landlords who bought a Upad package but who have not found a tenant since October 1 will be refunded “in due course”.
However those who bought before that date will not be refunded.
The notice also answers questions for Upad’s existing tenants and landlords about rents and deposits.
The notice assures both tenants and landlords that deposits are protects via the TDS, and that rents that have been collected will be promptly paid over to landlords.
Tenants and landlords in the process of agreeing new tenancies are told to make direct contact with each other.
The notice thanks customers for their support over the last ten years.
On Rightmove, Upad was listing 486 rental properties at the weekend, with around ten added or price-reduced as late as Friday.
Rumours about Upad – claimed to be the UK’s largest online lettings agents and certainly a pioneer of its kind – began to circulate towards the end of last week.
EYE has been in contact with Davis, 44, and we expect to speak to him shortly.
Upad’s last accounts, for the year to end of March 2018, show that the business was over £1.4m in the red.
https://www.upad.co.uk/closed.html
Comments (4)
Well, well, well. Who would have thought that landlords would prefer a real live person dealing with their massive investment over a faceless call centre?
Virtual seems to be just that ……doesn’t really exist.
Another Genie in a bottle!
Yet again – Buy cheap = pay twice
With these guys I’m not sure it was down to their pricing. I think that what we are seeing with all the online lettings offerings is that landlords and tenants need a local point of contact from the outset. We are seeing local Leaders and Countrywide offices “centralising” parts of their services such as rent collection and maintenance and the public do not like it; good for us though!