Overview
Rate Your Landlord is an opinion and ratings website that allows student tenants to leave feedback about their renting experiences. The site is a joint venture between Unipol Student Homes and Leeds University Union (LUU), and is supported by all institutions and colleges in Leeds. The site is available to be used by all students.
Analysis
We have written a summary and analysis of the live reviews on the Rate Your Landlord website
The scores paint a positive picture for tenants and for landlords, with the majority of respondents reporting above average levels of satisfaction with key aspects of their accommodation. It also gives clear indications of areas for improvement, particularly around the areas of repairs and customer service. Both are rooted in the management of expectations and improving communication. Where we can all get things wrong from time to time or misjudge how long it will take to get a particularly difficult repair resolved, how we communicate with our tenants is of the utmost importance.
Rate Your Landlord can be used to your advantage and getting good reviews should lead to getting more tenants when they house hunt. See below for how to make Rate Your Landlord work for you.
Capitalise on your good relationships
If you have good relationships with your tenants, ask them to review you. If you think they’ll score you highly then capitalise on this. Many landlords who have high ratings do so because they encourage their tenants to review them, and we advise all landlords to do this. This is the surest way of improving your own scores.
Your right of reply - how to look good
When a tenant reviews you and decides to leave a comment (which is only about half of reviewers, they are not seeking to have a conversation or discussion with you. In fact, they are unlikely to even see your reply. It is now over to you to thank them for their feedback, provide some context for an issue or shed light on a disagreement.
The most important thing to bear in mind is that future tenants will read your reply, and may consider their house hunting decision on how you come across. The best landlord replies are not only short and sweet, but positive and thankful, presenting the landlord as someone with a fair temperament from whom a student would wish to rent a property.
As a landlord you have a right of reply to any review that is written about you. Once a review is moderated, Rate Your Landlord will give you five working days to respond. You will be notified via email with a unique URL link which can be used only once. Your reply is limited to 140 characters, in line with reviews. Like reviews, all replies will be moderated.
Using your right of reply is important. If you have received a good review then post an acknowledgement to thank the reviewer. If you have received a bad review, try to state clearly a considered and calm response. This will often indicate to someone looking later that you respond to criticism well and may have a very good reason for the situation. Remember, sometimes it isn't always possible to keep everyone happy but managing expectations, and urging your tenants to review you where you are confident of a good and accurate review, is likely to balance out any negative ones.
Rate Your Landlord Moderation Procedure