Property and lettings experts Dharmesh + Jyoti Patadia (D + J) launched their new company D + J Lettings and Property Management on 31st October 2016. Located in Sun Street, Hitchin the company has a contemporary new look and continues to be supported by the same experienced team of staff following a management buyout from Norgans Lettings.

As the only truly independent lettings agency in Hitchin that is managed by landlords for landlords, they plan to expand their range of services to be a one-stop shop for everything related to lettings, buy-to-let investment and property management.

Dharmesh and Jyoti, who have been landlords themselves for the past 20 years and co-founded and managed Norgans Lettings for the last 10 years, plan to focus entirely on lettings and property management, rather than have a business that includes property sales. They believe that by delivering an exceptional customer experience this will give them a competitive advantage.

Talking to Dharmesh, who has his own extensive buy-to-let investment portfolio and has seen almost every problem a landlord is likely to face, we asked him some questions about where he thought the lettings market would be post-Brexit and why he has chosen to be an independent lettings agency.

Q: Everyone has been talking about Brexit, what do you believe will happen to the lettings market in the long term?
A: There is and continues to be a lack of housing and renting proves to be a good option for many individuals and families that do not have the funds to buy a house. The lettings market will continue to grow and at this present time with low interest rates this proves to be a sound investment, achieving a much higher yield than other investments. At D + J Lettings post-Brexit we are looking to increase landlords’ awareness and knowledge of recent legislative changes and to ensure they are prepared to manage the new tax changes affecting landlords.

Q: Why have you chosen to be ‘independent’?
A: Property has always been a passion of ours and we have chosen to be independent and expand our range of services to help each of our landlords realise their own aspirations, whether this is through new technologies and conversation hubs, landlord clinics or one-to-one informal advice sessions. We believe we have much to offer new and existing landlords – we know how to grow a property portfolio and to maximise on buy-to-let investment. We are experts in property maintenance so we not only manage general day-to-day maintenance, we even manage larger assignments to include partial or full property refurbishment projects.

Q: What makes D + J Lettings a great service provider?
A: Staff, technology and transparency set us apart from other lettings agencies, combined with our knowledge and expertise. We invest heavily in our staff and technologies implementing the latest systems and training. We are ARLA qualified which means we have passed the required exams and we are heavily involved with GLM (The Guild of Letting & Management), often being a sounding board for this organisation. Landlords and tenants both want transparency – clear and precise information and costs. We believe we are transparent and we like to think we give information in a friendly and approachable way.

Q: What do you plan for the future?
A: We will be asking our landlords and tenants for feedback on what they would like to see in the future and shape our services to meet their needs. Look out for our buy-to-let investment and property clinics – these will be a focus in 2017 with some new services to be announced.