Nationwide multi-disciplined estate agent Humberts has announced the launch of its new lettings department which will be made up of an online only section and a traditional agency offering.
Humberts said it will offer Landlords the option to rent their properties solely online, with the vendors conducting the viewings themselves, or via the more traditional agency route with consistent, professional agent support.
It believes that it is the only agent in the UK to offer this service where vendors can switch from the online to the traditional model at any time but the traditional offering will only be available in current Humberts branch locations.
‘We saw a real gap in the market for this flexible, dual lettings model. Landlords looking to save money may wish to try the online lettings route but would prefer a strong, heritage brand and industry knowledge behind them,’ said Ian Westerling, managing director of Humberts.
‘The option to switch over at any time, in areas where we have branches, is attractive as it gives Landlords ultimate peace of mind. With exciting investment into Humberts and plans for further expansion nationwide we have bought into a leading Prop Tech company Propoly. We will be white labelling their existing service offering for our new online division,’ he added.
Propoly, a Pilabs portfolio company backed by Seedcamp and other prominent Angel investors, was launched not only to save their customers fees but to create a new lettings eco system where landlords and tenants can communicate directly.
‘By partnering with Humberts we aim to prove that both online and traditional lettings agency can work seamlessly and effectively alongside each other offering Landlords the ultimate choice. By signing up more traditional high street agents as customers the eventual objective is for Propoly to become the biggest and best place to visit for rental properties nationwide,’ said Ed Ghazal co-founder of Propoly.
The new Humberts Lettings Division will be headed up by Suzanne Diamond who previously led the 21 branch strong team at Curchods. She will oversee both Humberts Lettings and Humberts Lettings Direct.
Diamond explained that the Humberts Lettings Direct department will be run from a central location with an experienced manager and team and landlords using this small fixed fee service will have access to experienced professionals via phone or email to ensure a good level of support.
The Humberts traditional Lettings service is available from all of 23 sales branches across the UK and will launch with no tenant administration fees.
‘The two departments will have separate but complimentary branding. At a time of evolution for our business we believe Humberts will be at the forefront of these changes,’ Diamond added.
