2024, it’s been a pleasure!
Well, we can’t deny it – we are firmly into those last, lingering days of the year. The Christmas Cards have been dispatched, the Christmas list has been penned and sent up the chimney with the fairies, and now that there is no more fighting against the fact that the festive season is kicking off in earnest, it is inevitable that we come to reflect on the year behind, and to look forward to the year ahead.
Here at Your Home Managed, we are feeling pretty pleased with ourselves to be honest, it has to be said. We have had a lovely year!
That is not to say that it has been an easy year – the lettings market has been a challenging place. But we don’t do this for an easy ride, we really do what we do to make a difference – to offer Landlords in Southwest London a uniquely different choice, from Balham to Brixton, Clapham to Colliers Wood, from Wandsworth to Wimbledon... and every neighbourhood in between.
Lettings and Property Management at the coal face (sleeves up, hands dirty...)
2024 has been an up and down year for property in general, with so much disruption, interruption and uncertainty leaving many landlords wondering whether they were coming or going. In a market showing so much turbulence, it is comforting that we continue to work in the way we always have done – getting stuck in and being hands on in our property management, being physically involved and present in the day to day management of our properties – especially when there are issues that want sorting. We get it done.
Even in the process of writing this blog, I have stopped to dash to a property myself to attend a plumber’s visit to stop a leak... yes, to oversee the job for one thing, but also to be able to confidently report back to our client about exactly what the picture is. It is second nature to us because frankly, from Day 1, it has just seemed obvious to us that it was part of the job; it is what our landlords pay us for.
Whether it has been dealing with leaking water tanks on a Sunday (turns out it was actually the flat next door!), or lack of gas at a property just as winter kicks in, or fallen fences, or slates off rooftops, or even squirrels through skylight windows, 2024 seems to have thrown it all at us! And we are proud to have dealt with all these things – it justifies our reason for being and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
A year of growth
It is a privilege to do what we do for our landlords in southwest London – and indeed for tenants, too, but Landlords are what grow our business. This year, just like any other year, we came into it without any fixed target for growth! We just want to do our job. But nevertheless, whether we looked for it or not, growth has come to us. We came into the year with 95 managed rental properties in southwest London on our book. We end 2024 with 130 managed properties. It is a little more than 33% growth... but it is not something we shout about.
We are pleased to see it, because the truth is that we don’t push to grow – not for the sake of growth itself at any rate – and therefore we can feel proud that this growth has come from word of mouth and recommendation.
Who cares about targets!? We don’t – we just care that we are doing the right thing by our Landlords and Tenants, and the rest looks after itself.
What Next in 2025
It goes without saying that we will go on providing more of the same hands on service to those of you letting out your property in southwest London – that’s a given.
Once again, we are going to go into next year with realistic targets for growth. I’m sure it will probably happen anyway – but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.
Service is so much more important than size.
What matters is exploring what we can do to improve that service, utilising new prop-tech, as we call it in the biz, to streamline what we do and to make life easier for our landlords and tenants (our 24 hour emergency line, linking tenants through to a diagnosis program, is a perfect example – improving our offering with something that tenants especially find so useful).
Our Block Management service is also growing, and that has been exciting to watch over the past year. This is something we would like to do more of in 2025 – so if you are looking for a block management company in London – perhaps fed up of the crew that manage yours, then please do get in touch and let’s talk about what we do and how we are already servicing blocks of flats and apartments across the south of the city.
The big news story in 2025 – or at least one of them – is the change coming to the lettings market due to new legislation being brought through, in the form of the Renters Rights Act. It is already changing the lettings landscape, and it hasn’t even come into force yet! Follow ourNews page on the website and look out for updates, which we will be providing on a regular basis to keep you as informed as possible.
2024, you’ve been great... now, roll on 2025.
