Following a successful two-year trial, a new up-front rental payment system is being rolled out across the UK. Known as the Advanced Rent Option, the new system provides letting agents with the option of offering landlords one year’s rent in advance as part of their service package.
According to those responsible for the ARO, the scheme could radically change the private lettings industry by enabling agents to build better relationships with landlords.
The Advanced Rent Option simply enables agents to provide upfront payments when securing the business of landlords and has proven to be an extremely popular and powerful prospecting tool during the scheme’s initial trial.
Simon Shine rock, who created and launched the ARO, said that response among small to medium-sized businesses in particular has so far been outstanding.
“This project has been in the pilot stage for two years, and it has proven to bring huge benefits to the lettings market, offering peace of mind to landlords as well as an invaluable marketing and prospecting edge for selected agents,” he said.
“The response since launch has been beyond our expectations, and we have been able to demonstrate that ARO is the holy grail of landlord prospecting and lead generation, attracting more landlord inquiries at a lower cost than any other form of marketing.”
“Now agents across the UK can stand out from the crowd by offering landlords something that no one else can. ARO is available for reliable, proactive, and go-ahead agents who understand the value of the ARO and how to use it to fast-forward their businesses and grow their managed portfolios.”
“We are looking forward to working with our ARO licenced agents to offer landlords a better, more secure, and more versatile service.”
Elsewhere, Moss Property director Sanjay Gandhi has been making use of the scheme for several months, with ARO having played a direct role in helping him grow his local business.
“I wanted to look at ways to generate new landlords and thought that ARO would be the perfect product to do that. We have competitors in the town who offer a rent guarantee, but the difference with that product is they take a 35 per cent cut and don’t really offer market value,” he said.
“Since launching ARO a few months ago, we’ve grown our portfolio by around three to four per cent. I’ve got to highlight that it’s not for everyone. I’ve had many landlords who’ve said they like the idea but are happy to have the rent paid monthly and go on with our standard service. But we would not have been able to speak to that landlord if we didn’t ARO in the first place.”
“It’s been a great new business generator and has helped to bring more landlords into our standard service, as they know that with us, they can switch over to an ARO licence should they decide they want it at a later date.”