Tenant-referencing tech transforms void periods into new revenue stream for agents

Goodlord group partners with ScottishPower for pioneering online service.

Tenant-referencing tech transforms void periods into new revenue stream for agents

Vouch, a digitised tenant-referencing service which joined the Goodlord group in 2020, has launched a pioneering online service in partnership with ScottishPower called Vouch Voids.

Vouch Voids will provide agents and landlords with a new revenue stream during void periods and further streamline the change-of-tenancy process.

The new Vouch Voids dashboard enables agents to automatically switch electricity providers to ScottishPower – a Glasgow-based, integrated energy company which boasts 100% green electricity – upon change of occupancy. Agents earn a commission per void property successfully switched across - while minimising landlord costs during the void period - the switch setting up a zero standing charge tariff on the property for up to 45 days.

Tenants moving in can then access a range of tariffs from a safe and stable supplier.

The dashboard also introduces new efficiencies to the change-of-tenancy process. It is able to send automated and accurate meter readings to utility companies and notify council tax and water authorities of changes in occupancy.

Vouch director Jaime Tillyer shares that the new tech was specifically designed to allow agents to stay on top of their revenue streams while engaging directly with ScottishPower, effectively cutting out middlemen and avoiding unreported commissions.

“Following numerous conversations with our clients, it became apparent that the voids offerings available through our partners were just not in line with how the agents or the Vouch platform works,” Tillyer said. “Agents reported frustrations around always speaking to a middleman, so the solution as we saw it was to do what we do best and build a voids platform from the agents’ point of view.”

Existing Vouch customers will still be able to use their login details to manage both their digital referencing and voids through the new service.

The new dashboard will be activated in stages on all Vouch platforms. The launch webinar for Vouch Voids takes place on February 16, 2022, at 11:30 GMT.