Action Required! ACTION REQUIRED: Quality has collapsed — 100 enquiries, 99 unqualified & unfair restart costs

Landlord Discussion
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Subject: 97 enquiries, virtually zero qualified leads — quality has dropped drastically

I’ve used OpenRent for several years and previously found good‑quality tenants successfully. But the standard and quality have fallen sharply, and this is now the THIRD time I have had to advertise this same property here.

Even on my last property, I advertised here but found absolutely no suitable tenant through this platform at all.

Current listing: 97 enquiries total — and honestly, 97 of them are completely unqualified:

• No names, no proper details provided

• Income figures far below the stated minimum

• Rent‑to‑rent enquiries, long‑standing inactive accounts, people asking me to contact them instead of answering questions

• Two obvious scam attempts

• One person openly admitted they couldn’t provide required ID after false claim income

• Even applicants with impressive‑sounding claims didn’t actually meet the requirements when checked

• Only 3 viewings agreed — all cancelled by them; zero serious, eligible tenants found

Most frustrating of all: When the limit is reached, the listing closes — and you have to pay again just to restart it. That feels like daylight robbery: we pay for quality leads, but get flooded with noise, and pay again to start the cycle over.

Why is there NO mandatory verification — ID, income, or even basic profile completion — before people can message landlords? Right now it’s an open free‑for‑all, and landlords pay the price in time, stress, and extra fees.

Has anyone else seen this big drop in quality and had to re‑list multiple times? It’s unsustainable

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@Bisi

Have you been using the screening questions function?

Try using rightmove instead.

RRA will have led to a lot of s21s by end may, esp troublesome tenants who will now all be looking

You/your listing may have been targeted by scammers it seems in which case perhaps unsurprisingly they have flooded you with unsuitable enquiries- did you refer any of them to Openrent?

OR do offer 'verified tenant ’ status for a tenner but i d oubt any/many people use it.

Can you share your listing? Others might have advice on it, maybe you can say in the ad and your auto rey that all applicants will need to provide proof of income and ID/right to rent checks will be carried out, to put off the fakes.

Best

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@mod_harry what say you to this? OR got any plans to actually make the platform work in situations like this?

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I generally get 1 qualified lead out of 50. As Tom Jones would say, its not unusual.

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One thing that helps with the “97 enquiries” problem is making the *first reply* do the filtering before you spend time arranging a viewing. I’d keep it short, objective, and use the same wording for every enquiry so it is fair and easy to copy/paste:

Hi [Name] — thanks for the enquiry. Before I arrange viewings, please reply with:

1. Who will live at the property / number of occupants

2. Desired move-in date

3. Employment/source of income and approximate monthly household income

4. Whether you can provide ID/right-to-rent and proof of income if asked

5. Any pets/smokers

6. Preferred viewing times

Rent is £[x], deposit is £[x], and minimum income/criteria are [x]. I use the same criteria for every applicant. Please don’t send sensitive documents or money by message; that comes later through the proper application process.

If someone ignores those basics, no chasing. If they answer clearly, then move them to a viewing/reference check.

The wording is more Marketplace/Craigslist-oriented than OpenRent-specific, but the checklist/template is reusable for any first reply. Sharing because the copy-paste burden is exactly what this thread is about. Curious if UK landlords here ask anything different at first-message stage?

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I add:

  • When do you want to move-in
  • Are you looking for a short term, medium term or long term stay

I also used to do it by phone, (although thats more difficult now) as you pick up much more information.

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why is it more difficult now? For you or generally?

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Because OR hide the tenants phone number.

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ah right… well as I give them mine, I’ve never had an issue with that.

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You lose the element of surprise if they call you. That has been one of the most informative aspects of the call in my experience.

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@David122

Erm you can press 'reveal contact details ’ and see tenant number & email

(At least i was able to. May be ‘Rent now’ only feature)

Best

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You do not pay for quality leads, you pay to advertise & receive enquiries.

Ive always managed to find tenants within a dozen or so enquiries, so can only assume that either your property or location is not attracting the right applicants to suit you. That is not OR fault.

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These contacts are still counted towards 100.

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Don’t respond to any unsuitable applications. Send automatic response query to applicants asking for further information. Ignore or reject non-compliant applications. Never show properties to people unless you have satisfied yourself that they are genuine and can easily afford the rent. You have to be entirely devoid of emotion and purely functional in your responses. Like the government and HMRC treats you. Good luck

3 Likes