Call answering for letting agents: key facts
- A lettings phone line mixes four very different callers: tenants reporting problems, landlords, prospective tenants and contractors. Each needs its own instructions.
- The core of a lettings call answering set-up is a written repair triage: what counts as an emergency tonight, what is urgent but can wait for the morning, and what is routine.
- Your instructions should say who can send a contractor, from which approved list, up to what spend, and when the landlord must agree first. A receptionist shouldn't make spending decisions on its own judgement.
- GOV.UK's guidance for England says landlords are always responsible for repairs to heating and hot water, gas appliances, electrical wiring, the structure and exterior, and sanitary fittings including pipes and drains.
- Landlords must give tenants at least 24 hours' notice to visit for inspections or repairs, at a reasonable time of day, unless it is an emergency needing immediate access (GOV.UK).
- In England, from 1 May 2026, letting agents and landlords must not ask for, encourage or accept offers above the advertised rent, or stop someone viewing because they have children or receive benefits. Scripts for applicant calls should reflect this.
- Letting agents in England and Wales must belong to a redress scheme, and letting agents in England who hold client money must belong to a client money protection scheme. Complaint calls should be logged and routed, not resolved on the phone.
- For a gas smell in Great Britain, callers should be given the National Gas Emergency Service number, 0800 111 999, before anything else.
Who rings a letting agency, and why is it different from sales?
A lettings line hears from tenants reporting repairs and asking about rent or deposits, landlords checking on their property or giving instructions, prospective tenants wanting viewings, and contractors confirming jobs. Unlike sales, some of these calls are about a home that is being damaged right now, and they arrive at any hour.
A sales branch's calls are mostly about winning and progressing deals. A lettings or property management department is different: it is responsible for homes people are living in, so the phone carries problems as well as leads. The typical mix looks like this:
- Current tenants: repairs, rent payments, access for contractors, keys, neighbours, ending the tenancy, deposit returns.
- Landlords: asking for updates, approving or querying quotes, asking about statements and payments, asking you to let another property.
- Prospective tenants (applicants): asking if a property is still available, booking viewings, asking about referencing and move-in costs.
- Contractors: confirming they have attended, asking for access or keys, reporting that a job needs more work or a bigger spend.
- Others: neighbours reporting a leak from a flat you manage, block managing agents, councils and utility companies.
How much of this reaches your phone depends on your service level for each landlord. On a fully managed property you are usually the tenant's first point of contact for repairs. On a let-only or rent-collection property, the tenant should normally contact the landlord directly, and the receptionist needs to know that so it doesn't send your contractor to a property you don't manage. A good set-up gives the provider a property list showing which service level applies to each address.
If your branch also sells homes, keep the two sets of instructions separate. Sales calls (valuations, viewings and offers) are covered in our guide to a virtual receptionist for estate agents.
How should a receptionist sort repair calls into emergency, urgent and routine?
Give the receptionist a short table with three levels: emergencies that need action now (danger to people, or the home being damaged and the tenant can't stop it), urgent faults to deal with the next morning, and routine repairs logged for normal working hours. Add the questions that decide the level, and a rule for when in doubt.
Tenants describe problems in their own words, often while stressed. The receptionist's job is not to diagnose the fault but to ask a few fixed questions and put the call in the right box. The table below is an illustration of how many agencies set this out; your own levels should reflect your landlords' instructions and the properties you manage.
| Level | Typical examples | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency (now) | Water pouring through a ceiling or near electrics and the tenant can't stop it; smell of gas; no way to secure the property after a break-in; sparking sockets or burning smells; a CO alarm sounding | Safety signposting first, then escalate to the on-call property manager or send an approved emergency contractor, per your rules |
| Urgent (next morning) | No heating or hot water (more urgent in cold weather or for a vulnerable tenant); a leak that has been contained; only toilet not working; a fridge or cooker supplied by the landlord not working | Flagged message to the maintenance team at opening time, or escalation if your rules say so (for example a tenant with a baby or medical needs in winter) |
| Routine (normal hours) | Dripping tap, sticking door, slow drain, a broken blind, a request for a quote or an inspection | Logged as a maintenance request with photos asked for by email or your tenant portal |
The questions that decide the level
- Is anyone hurt or in danger right now?
- Is water still coming in? Have you been able to turn it off at the stop tap? Is it near lights or sockets?
- Do you have any heating or hot water at all? Is anyone in the home elderly, unwell or very young?
- Can you lock the front door and windows?
- Is this affecting a neighbour's property as well?
Lockouts and lost keys
A tenant locked out late at night is a common call, and agencies treat it in different ways: some send a locksmith from the approved list at the tenant's cost, some give out the number of a key-holding contact, and some only log it for the morning. Whatever your policy is, write it down, including who pays, and make sure the receptionist doesn't promise to send someone unless the script allows it. Never let anyone into a property without your identity checks for the caller.
Who can send a contractor, and how much can they spend?
Write dispatch rules before you switch on any out of hours cover: which approved contractor to call for each trade and area, the most that can be spent without the landlord's agreement, which landlords must always be called first, and what details the contractor must be given. The receptionist then follows the rules rather than making spending decisions.
The question that causes most out of hours trouble in lettings is not "is this urgent?" but "who said we could spend that?" Out of hours callouts may cost more than the same job booked for a weekday morning, and it is usually the landlord's money being spent. Your management agreements usually set a limit on what you can spend without the landlord's approval. Your call answering instructions need to match them.
What your dispatch rules should cover
- Who decides. Can the receptionist instruct an approved contractor directly for an emergency, or must it always go through your on-call property manager? Many agencies keep the decision with a person on their own team and use the receptionist to gather details and find them.
- The approved contractor list. By trade (plumber, electrician, Gas Safe registered engineer, locksmith, glazier, drainage) and by area, with out of hours numbers and a backup for each.
- Spend limits. A default limit for emergency work, and any landlord-specific limits from their management agreement. The contractor should be told the limit and asked to call back before going over it.
- Landlord exceptions. Some landlords want to be called first, use their own contractor, or have boiler cover or building insurance with its own claims line. Some leasehold flats have a block managing agent responsible for communal areas and the structure. Put these on the property record so the receptionist sees them.
- Access. Whether the tenant will be home, where keys are held, and how the contractor gets them. GOV.UK says landlords must give tenants at least 24 hours' notice of visits for repairs, unless it is an emergency needing immediate access. Your rules should only send someone without notice for a genuine emergency, and the tenant should be told who is coming and roughly when.
- Logging. Ask for a record of each call: the time, what the tenant reported, who was contacted, what was authorised and by whom. You will need it when the invoice arrives and the landlord asks why.
What should a receptionist say first if a tenant smells gas or a CO alarm goes off?
Safety signposting comes before the repair report. If anyone is in immediate danger, the caller should hang up and call 999. For a gas smell, give the National Gas Emergency Service number (0800 111 999 in Great Britain, 0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland). Then take the details and alert your on-call contact.
Tenants often ring their letting agent first because that is the number on their fridge. The receptionist shouldn't try to judge how serious a gas smell or alarm is. Your script should give the same fixed wording every time:
- Immediate danger: "If anyone is in danger, please hang up and call 999."
- Gas smell or suspected carbon monoxide (England, Scotland and Wales): the National Gas Emergency Service, 0800 111 999, 24 hours. HSE's advice includes switching off the appliance, turning off the gas at the meter control valve, and opening doors and windows.
- Northern Ireland: the Gas Emergency Service, 0800 002 001.
- Power cut: 105 (free) or the local electricity network company. A power cut affecting the whole street is not a repair for your contractor.
After signposting, the call becomes an emergency report under your rules: the address, what the tenant can see or smell, whether the gas emergency service has been called, and a number to reach the tenant on. Your on-call person can then follow up with the landlord and a Gas Safe registered engineer once it is safe.
Our out of hours call answering guide explains signposting, on-call rotas and escalation attempts in more detail, for any type of business.
How should viewing requests from prospective tenants be handled?
Take the same details from every applicant, check the property is still available, and book or request a viewing under your rules. In England, the receptionist must not invite offers above the advertised rent, and must not discourage anyone from viewing because they have children or receive benefits.
Applicant calls are where a lettings line most often loses business. An applicant who can't get through may simply book a viewing with another agent instead. Capturing each enquiry consistently also gives you a fair, recorded process when several people want the same home.
What to capture from an applicant
- Name, mobile, email and the property or listing reference.
- When they want to move and how many people will live there (adults and children), if your process needs this for the property, for example to check room numbers or licensing limits.
- Any pets they have, so your team can check what the landlord will consider.
- Their preferred viewing times, and the personal safety details your viewing policy requires.
Rules that changed on 1 May 2026 (England)
Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, GOV.UK says landlords and letting agents in England:
- must not ask for, encourage or accept an offer higher than the advertised rent, and must include a specific rent in any written advert or offer;
- must not do anything to make someone less likely to rent a property because they have children or receive benefits, including withholding information about a property or its availability, or stopping them from viewing it;
- can't ask for rent before the tenancy agreement is signed, and then no more than one month's rent in advance.
In practice, that means your script should never include questions like "would you be willing to pay more?" or "are you on benefits?" as a filter, and the receptionist should quote only the advertised rent. If an applicant offers more, the safe answer is that the rent is as advertised and the team will be in touch. The bidding rules apply in England only; if you let homes in Wales or Scotland, check the rules there with your own adviser or trade body.
Many agencies use their personal safety policy for viewings as well, for example taking a full name, mobile number and email before booking. Our estate agents guide covers viewing safety and diary access in more detail.
How should calls from landlords be handled?
Route landlord calls to their property manager with a clear note of what they want, and take any instruction or approval word for word so your team can confirm it in writing. The receptionist shouldn't discuss rent arrears, a tenant's circumstances or a property's account with anyone it can't identify.
Landlords are your clients, and for many agencies they are the calls that matter most to keep. Most landlord calls fall into a few types:
- Approving or querying a quote. Take the approval exactly as given (job, amount, contractor) and pass it on straight away so the work isn't held up. Your team should confirm it in writing.
- Asking for an update on a repair, an empty property, a rent payment or a new tenant.
- Money queries about statements, deductions and payment dates. These go to your accounts or property manager.
- New business. A landlord wanting to let another property, or someone thinking of letting for the first time, is a new instruction lead. Treat it like a valuation request in sales: take the address, the type of property, when it will be available and whether they want let-only or full management, and pass it on quickly.
Lettings records include a lot of personal information about tenants and landlords: rent arrears, references, deposits and sometimes health or family details. The receptionist should not confirm any of this to a caller just because they say they are the landlord or the tenant. A message and a call back from your team, on the number you hold, is the safer default.
What tenancy questions should a receptionist never answer?
Anything about ending a tenancy, rent increases, possession, deposit deductions or whether the agency has done something wrong should be logged and passed to your team, not answered. These are legal and money matters, and from 1 May 2026 many of the rules in England changed.
Some calls sound simple but carry real risk if the person answering guesses. Your script should route them, not answer them.
- A tenant wants to give notice. GOV.UK says tenants on an assured periodic tenancy in England end it by giving two months' notice in writing, for example by letter, email or text. A phone message on its own is not written notice, so the receptionist should take the details and say how to give notice in writing, using wording you have approved.
- A landlord wants a tenant to leave. Since 1 May 2026, landlords in England can no longer use section 21 "no fault" evictions and need a ground for possession. That conversation belongs with your property manager and, where needed, the landlord's legal adviser.
- Rent increases and arrears. Log them for your team. Don't discuss amounts, notices or payment plans on the phone.
- Deposit deductions and disputes. Pass to whoever handles check-outs. The receptionist shouldn't comment on whether a deduction is fair.
- Complaints. Letting agents and property managers in England or Wales must belong to an approved redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme). Log the complaint carefully and route it to whoever runs your complaints procedure.
- Client money questions. Letting and property management agents in England who hold clients' money must belong to a client money protection scheme and give a copy of their membership certificate free to anyone who asks. If a caller asks for it, the receptionist can take the request or point them to your website, where the certificate must be displayed.
These rules are summarised from GOV.UK and are not legal advice; they differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The point for call handling is simple: none of these questions should be answered by someone reading a script.
What might the receptionist actually say?
Short, fixed lines for the moments that matter: answering in your agency's name, signposting safety, checking whether water can be stopped, explaining what happens next, and politely refusing to discuss rent offers, notices or other people's details.
These are illustrative examples only. Your provider should agree final wording with you and read it back.
Example: answering out of hours
"Good evening, [Agency] lettings, this is [Name]. Our office is closed, but I can take your details and make sure the right person gets them. Which property are you calling about?"
Example: a leak
"Is water still coming in now? Is it near any lights or sockets? Do you know where your stop tap is? ... Thank you. Under our emergency process I'm going to contact our on-call property manager now. Can I confirm the best number to reach you on in the next half-hour?"
Example: a routine repair at night
"Thanks, I've logged that for the maintenance team, and they'll be in touch after 9am tomorrow. If you can, email a photo to [address] so they can see what's needed."
Example: an applicant offering more rent
"Thank you, but the rent for this property is as advertised. I can book you a viewing or pass your details to the lettings team."
Example: a tenant giving notice by phone
"I'll pass that on to your property manager today. Notice needs to be given in writing, so they'll confirm how to send it."
Example: a caller asking about someone else's account
"I'm not able to discuss that, but I'll make sure your property manager has your message and calls you back on the number we hold."
What should letting agents look for in a call answering provider?
Look for genuine out of hours cover with escalation, the ability to follow per-property instructions and contractor lists, a full log of who was contacted and what was authorised, separate handling for lettings and sales, and a written data processing contract. Test it with your own emergency scenarios before you rely on it.
Questions worth asking
- Escalation: how many attempts do they make to reach your on-call person, how far apart, and who do they try next? Do they log every attempt?
- Per-property information: can they see which properties you fully manage, landlord-specific spend limits, key locations and contractor preferences while on the call?
- Contractors: will they call contractors from your approved list on your behalf, or only call your on-call person? Can they hold a different list for each area or branch?
- Your software: can repair reports go straight into your property management system or tenant portal, or only by email?
- Hours: do they cover nights, weekends and bank holidays to the same standard? Check your own records for when heating and burst pipe reports come in, and make sure cover is solid at those times.
- Lettings knowledge: do the receptionists understand terms like fully managed, let-only, check-out, deposit protection and assured periodic tenancy?
- Script changes: how quickly can you update a rota, a contractor or a property note?
- Data protection: ask for the UK GDPR Article 28 contract terms, and where call recordings and messages are stored.
- Trial: run test calls with your own scenarios (a leak at 2am, a lockout, an applicant offering more rent) before diverting your main lettings number.
Pricing models vary, typically by number of calls, minutes or a monthly allowance, and out of hours or escalation may be charged differently. Compare quotes against your real pattern of calls, including winter months. Our checklist for choosing a call answering service covers the general questions.
Related guides
Call answering for letting agents: frequently asked questions
What is call answering for letting agents?
It is a service where trained receptionists answer your lettings line in your agency's name when your team can't, often including evenings, weekends and bank holidays. They take repair reports, landlord messages and viewing requests, and follow your rules on what to escalate. They don't diagnose faults, authorise spending outside your rules or give tenancy advice.
Can a call answering service act as our out of hours emergency repairs line?
Yes, if you give it a clear triage of emergency, urgent and routine repairs, an on-call rota and contractor dispatch rules. The receptionist asks fixed questions, signposts safety numbers, then escalates or logs the call as your instructions say. You should test it with realistic scenarios first.
Can the receptionist send a contractor out at night?
It can if you allow it, but many agencies prefer the receptionist to reach their own on-call property manager, who decides. Either way, write down which approved contractors can be used, the spend limit, and which landlords must be called first.
What counts as a repair emergency?
That is your decision, usually based on danger to people or the property being damaged and the tenant not being able to stop it, such as uncontrolled water near electrics, a gas smell or a property that can't be secured. Loss of heating is often treated as urgent rather than an emergency, unless it is very cold or the tenant is vulnerable. Write examples of both.
What should happen if a tenant smells gas?
The receptionist should tell them to call 999 if anyone is in immediate danger, and give the National Gas Emergency Service number, 0800 111 999 in Great Britain or 0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland. Then it takes the details and alerts your on-call contact under your rules.
Can the receptionist ask applicants to offer more rent, or ask if they're on benefits?
No. In England, from 1 May 2026, letting agents and landlords must not ask for, encourage or accept offers above the advertised rent, and must not stop someone viewing or renting because they have children or receive benefits. Scripts for applicant calls should be checked against these rules.
Can a tenant give notice over the phone to our receptionist?
GOV.UK says tenants on an assured periodic tenancy in England end it with two months' notice in writing, such as a letter, email or text. The receptionist can take a message and explain, using your wording, how to give notice in writing, but the phone call itself is not written notice.
Can the same service handle sales and lettings calls?
Usually, yes, but they should be set up as separate call types with separate instructions and routing. Sales calls are about valuations, viewings and offers, while lettings calls involve repairs, tenancies and landlords, with very different urgency.
Does using a call answering service change our redress or client money obligations?
No. Letting agents in England and Wales must still belong to a redress scheme, and agents in England holding client money must belong to a client money protection scheme. The receptionist can log complaints and requests and pass them on, but the obligations stay with your agency.
How much does call answering for letting agents cost?
Prices vary by provider, call volume, hours and features such as escalation and contractor dispatch, so we don't quote figures. Ask for a quote based on your real call pattern, including winter months and out of hours calls.
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 12 November 2026:
- GOV.UK: Private renting: repairs
- GOV.UK: Private renting: your landlord's safety responsibilities
- GOV.UK: Renters' Rights Act overview for tenants
- GOV.UK: Protecting clients' money if you're a property agent
- GOV.UK: Registering with a redress scheme as a property agent
- GOV.UK: Private renting: your landlord's responsibilities
- HSE: Gas safety and carbon monoxide in the home