More than half of letting agents are failing to see value from their technology investments, with 27% reporting that new tech actively adds complexity and a further 28% saying it makes no meaningful difference to workload, according to a survey by Goodlord.
The findings point to what Donovan Frew, chief technology officer at Goodlord, describes as the 'tech trap': agencies invest in systems that promise to lighten the load, only for those systems to slow them down. Frew argues this is often not a failure of the tech itself but stems from agencies over-tooling and under-strategising.
Bottlenecks in admin, tenant management and compliance
Goodlord data identifies the biggest bottlenecks for letting agents as admin pressure, tenant management, and compliance. One in five agents say they spend too much time on admin, while a further three-quarters say it actively stymies growth.
Tenant management is also a drain, with 47% of agents saying it limits their business. Compliance is cited as a major drain by 11% of agents, with many still manually tracking and uploading AML checks, certificates, and sanctions screenings.
Frew notes that with the Renters' Rights Act now demanding watertight compliance across all portfolios, relying on slow manual checks creates unnecessary legal risk and steals time that could be used to drive growth.
Building a coherent tech strategy
Frew acknowledges that building a coherent tech strategy is no easy task, particularly for smaller agencies trying to modernise. He advises agents to avoid 'tech for tech's sake' and instead invest in smarter tools that target core operational bottlenecks.
He recommends opting for software that is purpose-built to meet the exact needs of an agency's business, as well as platforms designed to replace fragmented systems with a single, connected workflow. Such platforms bring referencing, deposit protection, and document signing into one place, removing the need to log into multiple third-party portals.
Choosing simple, secure and scalable solutions
Frew stresses the importance of choosing solutions that are simple, secure, and scalable. Agents can check whether a platform provides self-service portals for clients, look for cloud accessibility so staff can securely update records from any device, and consider whether the investment will allow them to add more properties without piling additional work onto staff.
He calls on both sides to ensure tech truly delivers: PropTechs must focus on delivering effective tools that make integration genuinely easy, while agents need to be strategic about choosing platforms that fit together and fit the way they work. When they do, he says, they should start to see their investments pay off and free themselves from the 'tech trap'.
