Maintaining professional standards and corporate trends
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According to Shirleen Rigby of Prime Lettings in Cork city, whatever happens, it’s always important to maintain professional standards all the time.
Like everyone else in the business, she notes the increasingly vital role of the lettings agent in a world where legislation is changing on an almost weekly basis.
“It’s important to marry people with the right property,” says Shirleen. “You don’t want to shoehorn people into the wrong place solely out of desperation.
It’s tough but you still have to match the right people with the right property… It’s still wonderful when you have a family or a young couple and you manage to find a home for them.
“And we’re very lucky that we don’t have many issues with tenancies. If you get it right on the first day, there are usually no problems afterwards.”
“One of the main common issues for a lot of companies in Cork is not being able to attract staff due to lack of availability of places to stay,” says Áine McLoughlin, owner of AML Property Services in Cork.
“It’s really having an impact on the city’s economic life now. I have so many calls from big companies trying to place their staff in accommodation…
“The other thing is that there needs to be more incentive for all landlords to stay in the market… because rental property is really needed in the market. The small landlords play a vital role. We also need the big investors too.”
Jean O’Donovan of Cork lettings agency Trading Places also finds that the shortage of rental properties is something that companies have been trying to address. This has led to a trend of landlords ending up with ‘corporate clients’, where a company might rent a house and have a number of their staff sharing it.
“We have some of the bigger employers renting a house where they will put people into it themselves in a room share,” says Jean.
“And, this is attractive for a landlord, in that they’re dealing directly with the company — it’s seen as a corporate let and there’s more involvement from the company in terms of the upkeep of the house.”
The increase in the quality levels of rental properties has been a welcome development, noted by all letting agents. Evolving legislation and, more particularly, mandatory council inspections have been an important driver in this regard.
“The whole area has become so much more professional,” says Roisin Murray of Sherry Fitzgerald Lettings in Cork.
“For those who become ‘accidental’ landlords, we’re very much hoping that the Government will give them more encouragement to stay in the market through taxation breaks in the next Budget.
“It’s the one thing that will encourage more of them to stay in the business and avail of the services of letting agencies such as our own."