Contractors Playing A Key Role In Effective Property Management

Over the past 12 months, over one third of private tenants have been faced with a home emergency that has needed immediate attention.  Landlords that ignore the requests of their tenants increase the risk of disputes and damage the prospects of long term business. According to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC), landlords have a responsibility to respond to tenants emergencies, such as major electrical faults or gas leaks, within 24 hours. However, latest figures show that two thirds of tenant’s requests took longer than the expected response time, with 23% taking longer than a week to be resolved.

Pat Barber, Chair of the AIIC, said: ‘Landlords have a duty of care with their tenants and should be responding to emergencies in hours, not days’.

The AIIC have laid out clear guidelines on response times for landlords:

• Landlords and agents have a duty of care to advise tenants on the correct course of action while contractors are organised, such as turning off gas taps, water stop cocks or main electricity supplies, to ensure that any problem does not cause danger to life and property

• Communication is key and the landlord or agent should keep the tenant informed of the action taken to solve the problem that has been reported.

• Any gas or major electrical fault is classed as urgent and should be attended to within 24 hours or less. This also applies when heating or hot water is affected, especially during cold weather.

Reliable and responsive contractors are at the heart of effective property management and are pivotal to landlords being able to respond and deal with tenant’s problems effectively. Arthur property management software enables tenants to immediately notify landlords of any issues, and landlords in turn, can immediately assign the job to a contractor- making resolving problems quicker and easier than ever. All the while the tenant can monitor how their request is being dealt with.

Arthur property management software isn’t just for property managers; it’s a great tool for contractors to manage their business on the go and find work in their area.

If you are a contractor, tradesman or woman that wants more work. Arthur can help you. Register today and get your first six months for free!