Agents & Introductions

Benefits

Estate Agents collect over £170,000 in commissions (based on 9%+VAT) annually through Kingdom Houses. Now consider that our standard long-term contract is three years and our longest running property has been going for over 12 years. The average commission earned over a three year deal with Kingdom Houses is £12,768.192 per property.

As an Estate Agency you will benefit by introducing Kingdom Houses to a landlord in the form of a hassle free tenancy and a long-term commission without tenant change overs. Most agents opt to do a let-only as Kingdom Houses essential becomes responsible for managing the sub-tenant and it is more profitable to do so (most agencies do not make much/any money on management).

One Estate Agency has secured fifteen properties for us and collects over £50,000 in commissions each year. That’s enough to pay their high street shop or one highly paid staff member! All while having to carry out no further work.

How does it work for agents?

Kingdom Houses will sign your standard company-let contract (or we can provide you with our standard contract) which makes Kingdom Houses the sole tenant of the property on an AST. This makes Kingdom Houses wholly responsible for the rent, the condition, safe guarding and care of the property.

The landlord, your client, will be responsible for the same stuff as usual (as-if they were renting to a family) such as for example a gas safety certificate, buildings insurance (of course the occupants must get their own contents insurance), drains, plumbing, electrical maintenance etc… However we have an in house repair man and have a close working relationship with a plumber and an electrician (both based locally in Ealing).

Commission

Just as a regular tenant of yours you will collect commission on your client as per your contract with them. Kingdom Houses becomes the tenant and has nothing to do with your commission, how much they pay you, or for how long.

We have had agents lower their commission as a gesture to secure their client and this has been greatly beneficial to them due to the long-term running of those tenancies.

How to re-assure my client?

Pets/DSS/Smoking
We do not allow any pets, smoking or DSS. All individuals looking for accommodation with us are vetted and regular inspections are carried out.

Quarterly inspections
We do quarterly inspections and photos can be sent each time to the landlord if requested. If your agency is dealing with the property on a management basis then we encourage you to join the inspections so that we do them together in one go keeping all parties on the same page.

Of course each time any employee of Kingdom Houses visits a property we are naturally keeping on eye on anything that needs to be dealt with.

Weekly cleaning
We have cleaners that are full-time employed by Kingdom Houses and work only for us. Each house gets cleaned once a week and the cleaners report back any concerns they have so that we can investigate it.

Repairs & Maintenance
We have a full-time employed handy man who makes any repairs that fall within the tenant’s responsibility. If it is your clients responsibility to repair then we will inform your client in writing about the issue and also provide an indicative quote for Kingdom Houses to carry out the repair. More information can be found on our maintenance page.

Access & Notice
Each individual has quiet enjoyment of their room but not of the house as a whole. This means we have the freedom to access the property at any reasonable hour without serving any notice. So repairs, maintenance, management and surprise inspections (of the common areas) is simplified compared to a regular tenant.

For access to the rooms we have to, as per the UK property law, serve the occupant with at least 24 hours notice however we require that Kingdom Houses are served with at least 48 hours notice so that we can ensure the occupant gets their full 24 hour notice. Often with repairs we get permission from the tenant to access their room for a few days greatly simplifying scheduling.

Who is Kingdom Houses?
We are a family owned private company that specialises in providing the highest quality of accommodation to professionals on a per room basis. We’ve been in operation for eight years and have impeccable references.

What about rent increases?
As standard we will make an offer on a property as a fixed monthly rent for a 36/48 or 60 month period. Should your client want rent increases it can be discussed but may impact the first year’s rent such that it is lower and averages out over the years.

Referral

Most agents act on behalf of their landlord/client and collect commission from their client. However there may be those who are not interested in putting their company’s name and reputation on the line by acting as an intermediary.

In such a circumstance we will pay a once-off referral fee of £1,000 any landlord that you refer to us and with whom we directly work with (that is where they do not pay you any commissions at all and are not involved in the set up process). To be eligible for this referral you must inform us of your referral before we start negotiations with the landlord so that we can factor the cost of your referral into the feasibility assessment of the property, of course we unfortunately can’t take on loss making properties.

Who is eligible for a referral?
Anyone that refers a landlord to us (and where we enter into contract with them). So even if you are not an estate agent but you know of a landlord you are able to collect this referral.

Property requirements

To assist Estate Agents in sending us the right kind of properties we’ve put together a rough guideline of what we are looking for. Many properties that are suitable may fall outside this guideline so agents are encouraged to use initiative. If you are unsure send us information about the property in any case and we will be able to feedback whether it is suitable. If it is not suitable we will explain why so that you can eliminate similar properties from your pool.

We have a price list which can be made available upon request.

We need

  • No more than twelve minute walk from the station
  • At least one bathroom per four bedrooms
  • A separate lounge or a large open plan kitchen such that both a dinning table and lounge area can be accommodated (Sometimes a breakfast bar can serve the purpose of the dinning table)
  • A property that either has an HMO license, doesn’t need one, or where the landlord is willing to apply for one. As standard we will pay the HMO license fee if given a five year contract
  • A minimum of a three year lease on unfurnished properties
  • White goods (Dishwasher, washing machine, dryer and fridge freezer)