A recent Goodlord survey indicates that over half of letting agents are not seeing value from their technology investments. More than a quarter (27%) of agents state that new technology actively adds complexity to their business, while an additional 28% report it makes no meaningful difference to their workload.
Donovan Frew, chief technology officer at Goodlord, describes this as a 'tech trap', where agents invest in systems to stay competitive but find these systems slow them down. This issue often stems from agencies over-tooling and under-strategising rather than a failure of the technology itself.
Goodlord data highlights that the biggest bottlenecks for letting agents are admin pressure, tenant management, and compliance. One in five agents spend too much time on admin, and three-quarters say it hinders growth. Managing tenants limits business for 47% of agents, and 11% cite compliance as a major drain, with many still performing manual checks.
To address these issues, agents are advised to invest in smarter tools that target core operational bottlenecks and integrate effectively. Platforms that consolidate fragmented systems into a single workflow, offering simplicity, security, and scalability, are also recommended.