Half of tenant maintenance problems are first reported outside traditional office hours, highlighting the challenge facing letting agents and property managers running increasingly round-the-clock rental operations.
Analysis from Lettie finds 50% of maintenance cases between June and August were logged outside Monday-to-Friday, 9am-to-5pm working hours, while 17.4% were first reported at weekends.
The findings are based on Lettie’s property maintenance database, which supports more than 10,000 tenants.
Out-of-hours reporting is particularly prevalent when essential services are affected, with almost three-quarters of heating and hot-water problems arriving when property management offices would traditionally be closed.
OUT-OF-HOURS DEMAND
Some 73.1% of heating and hot-water cases were first reported outside standard working hours, rising to 73.7% for cases specifically involving a loss or disruption of hot water.
More urgent problems also frequently occur outside the working day, with 57.5% of cases carrying a High or Emergency label first reported out of hours.
Connor Hawkins, Chief Solutions Officer at Lettie, says: “Anyone working in property management knows that maintenance does not stop at 5pm, but the scale of the out-of-hours demand is striking.
“When half of maintenance cases are first reported outside the traditional working day – and almost three-quarters of hot-water disruptions arrive out of hours – this cannot really be treated as an occasional exception.
“For landlords and letting agents, the challenge is having an effective way to capture the problem, understand its urgency and decide what needs to happen next, regardless of when the tenant reports it.”
PLUMBING TOPS PROBLEMS
Plumbing and drainage is the most common maintenance category, accounting for 21.6% of cases, followed by doors, windows and access at 12.8%.
Heating and hot water represents 11.9%, with appliances and ventilation accounting for 11.5%.
The research also finds at least 12.4% of all cases contained evidence of a previous report, recurring symptoms, an earlier repair attempt or unresolved follow-up.
This rises to 26.3% for electrical and lighting problems and 25% for damp and building-fabric cases.
Hawkins adds that retaining the history and context surrounding maintenance issues becomes increasingly important as property portfolios grow.
