Over 30% (31%) of UK adults believe that using high street letting agents to rent a property is outdated and burdened by reams of paperwork, according to a study of 2,000 adults by virtual letting agency LetBritain.
30% Believe that Using High Street Letting Agent to Rent Property is Outdated
The research revealed that 25% of adults prefer to use online-only services, such as Gumtree or Spareroom.com, to source and secure a rental property, with 32% of landlords and tenants not having the time to use services that require them to visit a physical premise within working hours.
And its not only the lettings sector that is frustrated by the archaic processes still being used by high street businesses.
Half of consumers (51%) say that they rely on online solutions for the vast majority of their products and services, while 45% favour online services over ones that require them to go to physical premises.
A high proportion of adults (29%) refuse to use a business if they have no online service altogether.
The research shows that Londoners are the most technologically demanding, with 62% opting for online solutions and a majority (51%) consciously avoiding businesses that do not offer online services.
Looking to the future, 57% of UK adults – that’s 29.3m people – believe that online or app-based competitors will replace businesses with no online presence in ten years’ time, by 2027.
The CEO of LetBritain, Fareed Nabir, comments: “Over the past decade, online solutions have drastically transformed the way we conduct business. Today’s research clearly shows that consumers not only expect but now demand that companies provide their services online. And, on that point, the rental market is clearly falling short, with too many high street real estate agents failing to embrace digital solutions, relying on cumbersome offline processes. For businesses in the rental market, the choice is simple – integrate and embrace online solutions, or run the risk of being outpaced by changing consumer demand.”
Are you putting digital processes in place to cater to online demand from tenants?