If you’re a landlord in south-west London, this is about the people you want living in your home, and why so many of them never make it to your door.
Before we let a single property for anyone, we spent six weeks as tenants. A family of five, relocating from Canada, looking for a long-term home in Wandsworth or Putney. Proof of funds ready, passports ready, a clear move date, three school places to secure. On paper, we were exactly the tenants landlords hope for: organised, long-term, ready to sign.
And yet, time after time, the process lost us.
What your applicants may be going through
We enquired with more than a dozen letting agencies across Wandsworth, Putney, Wimbledon and Richmond. Here’s what it looked like from the other side of the desk:
- Rightmove enquiries into the void. Many went unanswered for days, some for weeks, and plenty were never answered at all.
- Agents who wouldn’t show us homes while we were still in Canada. No video call, no virtual walkthrough: come back when you’re in the country. But we needed a home to come back to.
- Asking for a video tour from 4,000 miles away, and hearing nothing back, even after following up.
- “When’s a good time for a chat?” Usually during UK office hours, which was the middle of the night for us in Canada.
- Listing alerts for the wrong side of London, and the wrong size. We asked about three-bed homes in Putney and Wandsworth. We received a steady stream of listings in Muswell Hill, East Finchley and Fulham, along with one- and two-bedroom flats. For a family of five.
- Pressure to offer “by tomorrow morning” on a house that still needed work, with no firm date for when that work would be finished.
- “We’ve had multiple offers.” We heard this more than once, and it was meant to hurry us. Yet several of those same homes were still advertised months later, now with the rent reduced.
Every one of those moments is a landlord losing a good applicant without ever knowing it.
None of this is about individual agents. Most of the people we dealt with were friendly and clearly stretched. They’re part of a system that’s failing everyone: tenants, landlords and agents alike. We’re trying to break out of it.
The let that should have happened
Then we found it: the right house, the right school catchment, an offer accepted. Within hours we’d paid a week’s rent as a holding deposit and finished our referencing.
Then we were asked to sign a declaration turning our holding deposit into a non-refundable “reservation fee”, and to take on a professional guarantor whose cost we struggled to get a straight answer on.
Over a bank holiday weekend, days before our flight, with three children and a shipping container already on the water, that one fell through the cracks too. Getting our deposit back took a carefully worded email quoting the Tenant Fees Act.
Think about it from the landlord’s side. A committed, long-term family wanted that home. Instead, the property went back on the market, the clock on the empty months started again, and a deposit dispute landed on an agency acting in the landlord’s name.
To be fair, the rules genuinely changed this year. Under the Renters’ Rights Act, tenancies now roll on month to month and agents can no longer take several months’ rent up front, so referencing has to work harder than ever. That’s real. But it’s exactly why the conversation about referencing, guarantors and costs has to happen before anyone pays a deposit, not after.
Two short-term stays later, we finally found our home. We moved in at the end of September, and the kids started school around the corner.
What it’s costing landlords
- Empty months. Every unanswered enquiry is an applicant who rents somewhere else. The best tenants have options, and they move fast.
- Rent reductions. Homes that sit on the market because of slow follow-up and vague pricing end up relisted for less.
- Fall-throughs. Lets that collapse late, because nobody checked how referencing would treat an applicant until after the offer.
- Risk. Under the new rules, holding deposits and fees handled badly can mean complaints, disputes and fines, all in your name.
How it shaped the service we give landlords
We built Silliphant & Co’s lettings service around everything we wished had happened to us, because what’s good for great tenants is good for the landlords who want them.
- Every enquiry answered the same day, by Adam or Melissa. No applicant slips away because nobody replied.
- Every home on film from day one, and live video viewings for applicants who can’t be there in person. Relocating professionals and families are often the best long-term tenants. We make it easy for them to choose your home.
- The right applicants, not the most applicants. We match on size, budget, timing and location before anyone books a viewing, so your time isn’t wasted.
- Referencing reality up front. We pre-qualify applicants and talk through guarantors and insurance before an offer is agreed, so lets don’t fall apart at the last minute.
- By the book, every time. Holding deposits, fees and documents handled exactly as the Tenant Fees Act and the Renters’ Rights Act require. That protects your tenancy and your reputation.
- Honest pricing from day one. No “multiple offers” theatre. We price your home to let well the first time, rather than reducing it a month later.
If you’re letting a home in Wandsworth, Putney, Wimbledon or Battersea and want tenants who are as committed as you are, request a Rental Position Review. Same day, always.
Adam & Melissa
Silliphant & Co — Property, personally