New Business and Room Lets Coordinator

Over the past 15 years in business, our focus has been to provide great service, transparency, and value to our landlords. We pride ourselves on being fair and reasonable and have experienced steady growth year on year, almost entirely organically, with the help of our fantastic and dedicated team and loyal clients. We are now looking to expand our client base even further by taking on a designated team member to drive new business and promote the SouthSide way.

Start date, subject to finding the right candidate.

New Business Enquiries and Marketing 

• Being the main point of contact for new landlord calls and enquiries and booking appointments.
• Sending initial NLV (New Landlord Visit) electronic pack and preparing physical landlord packs, including comparisons to similar properties.
• Managing diary efficiently to accommodate landlord appraisals by area.
• Improving and updating landlord materials, booklets and checklists and ensuring a good supply of landlord packs are available for appraisal visits.
• Adding new landlord details to SAM database e.g., contact details, landlord reg, safety certs etc.
• Arranging information including rents, ownership, EPCs/preparation of new landlord visits.
• Arranging ad-hoc property visits and keys as required.
• Attending property visits periodically, with the Director and Projects team to develop knowledge on renovation and refurbishment projects.
• Chasing new landlords for important details that have not been submitted and liaising with other letting agencies during management transition period, to ensure a smooth handover (safety certificates, deposit transfers etc).
• Follow-up calls to landlords after initial appraisal for feedback, to identify key motivations and trends.
• Keeping a note and reporting of relevant statistics and trends including new business and PHBs (property hand backs). 
• Management of SKL (Significant Key Landlords).
• Assisting with the onboarding of new landlords including key management and compliance, where required, before passing to the designated Property Manager.
• Keeping a database of HMO and Non-HMO landlords.
• Compiling and sending new business letters to property owners.
• Being proactive in identifying new avenues to generate business and promote services.
• Creating marketing materials and documents where applicable.
• Generating new ideas and creating new material for regular company Linked-In posts and website updates, including video content.
• Involvement with SEO for attracting new business.
• Attending and conducting property viewings and routine property visits for room lets, where required, and understanding EPC requirements.
• Working with the Team on landlord events such as workshops and social events, including PowerPoint presentations, handouts and follow-up links.

Room Let and Utilities Coordination

• Liaising with tenants regarding issues and managing communication.
• Arranging and maintaining signage in properties for Health and Safety purposes.
• Arranging quarterly meetings and calls with tenants.
• Liaising with Property Managers, Property Visitors and Landlords regarding property upgrades and improvements required.
• Utilities and WiFi management for room lets in portfolio.
• Conducting property visits to assess the condition of properties.
• Room Cost Summary (RCS)

Investment

• Conducting research & collating data on landlords, the market, and competitors to assist with new business strategies.
• Researching property owners in Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
• Targeting HMO owners and company-owned property.
• Additional ad-hoc duties and assisting colleagues as required to help the needs of the business.  

Breakdown of time per week allocated to the above tasks (flexible based on workload):

1-2 days - New business coordination

1-2 days - Room let and utilities coordination

0.5 days - Marketing

0.5 days - Investment preparation and researching opportunities.

 Personal Attributes:

• Client-focused, professional with the requisite skills to establish and maintain relationships.
• Self-motivated person who can work on their own initiative and in a team whilst, achieving stretching targets.
• Ability to work calmly and efficiently in a pressurised environment.
• Excellent organisation skills and ability to manage challenging demands.
• Ability to make decisions, solve problems and manage people and tasks.
• An honest individual with high levels of personal integrity.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to apply the strictest attention to detail and accuracy.
• Willingness to take responsibility for mistakes and learn from them.
• Confidence to offer new ideas and improvements to company processes and procedures.

Experience and Qualifications:

• Good level of education and qualifications and/or equivalent experience in a property
• Lettings or management role.
• Excellent PC skills, MS Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, TEAMS.
• Full driving licence essential (a maximum of 3 penalty points preferred). We have a fleet of company vehicles which our team members drive when visiting properties, so good geographical knowledge of Edinburgh is desired.
• Knowledge of residential property market for investment and rental.
• Awareness of property legislation and regulations for the Private Rented Sector (PRS).
• Awareness of HMO requirements in Scotland.
• Awareness of Health and Safety associated with refurbishment projects would be useful.
• Knowledge of LBTT requirements for investment purposes would be useful.

Key performance Indicators & Outcomes of the Role

The 3 core values are keeping everyone Safe and Happy while keeping our company Sustainable.

Salary/Benefits/Working Hours: 

• Starting salary - £28,000-£30,000 based on a full-time 40-hour week (pro-rata for part-time), including 1 hour of unpaid breaks, paid in arrears on the 2nd last working day of the month, including Saturday rota. Salaries are reviewed on an annual basis. Please note that from October 2024 standard full-time hours will be reduced to 37.5 hours per week.
• An incentive bonus scheme applies for any additional properties brought on, over and above the average annual level of growth (on top of basic salary and profit share).
• SouthSide will cover the costs associated with the studying and exams to be a member of ARLA. As the studying for the ARLA qualification takes place in personal time and requires a commitment from you, upon successful completion and achievement of the qualification, you will receive an additional £1,000 on your annual salary (the following month). Should you leave the company within 5 years of the ARLA a pro-rata amount of the cost incurred for the ARLA qualification will be recovered. Should you leave and you relinquish your qualification i.e., not going into property management then no recovery of the costs incurred by the company will be made. 
• SouthSide will also cover the renewal costs of accreditations and memberships already achieved, including ARLA, LETWELL and SafeAgent, where applicable. 
• Pension Scheme after 3 months (contributions matched by the company up to 5%).
• Company Health Insurance after 6 months (choice of 2 options WPA/Westfield Health) up to 5% of salary.
• Opportunity to participate in Profit Share Scheme after 12 months.
• 28 days paid holiday including all bank holidays plus 3 additional personal wellness days (PWD) per year. Holidays can be difficult to accommodate during the busiest periods. Holiday allowance does increase when certain length of service milestones is reached.
• Wellbeing Check-Ins.

Working Hours & Environment

·       Full time hours of 08:00 – 17:00hrs, 08:30 – 17:30hrs or 09:00hrs – 18:00hrs, Monday to Thursday and Friday 08:00 – 17:00hrs (including 1 hour’s unpaid breaks) subject to needs within the team. 

·       This position will be based at our Edinburgh office on Nicolson Street/Square however the role may require ad-hoc travel to other locations.

·       Flexibility will be expected with regards to hours of work to suit the needs of the business and colleagues.

·       The role also requires 1 Saturday a month, on a rota basis - typically from 8.30am to 1.30pm pay for these days are included in annual salary and Saturdays can be swapped to suit. After 6-12 months, there is a choice to adjust salary, and opt out of, or back into, the standard monthly Saturday rota, effective at the start of the new year.

Company Continued Professional Personal Development Days (CPPD)

• ARLA level training will be provided with the opportunity to obtain the ARLA Level 6 Qualification funded by the company.
• Additional company sponsored training courses are also available and team members are encouraged to take ownership of their personal and professional development by seeking opportunities to learn. 
• Regular 1-1 meetings and reviews with line manager to discuss personal development, performance, and progression. 

·       The company will take the opportunity to close for 2-4 additional Saturdays per annum (this is over and above the 1 Saturday a month required to work) for continued professional and personal development by bringing in speakers to help develop our team and will cover the cost of the training from external companies. In addition, optional training in the evening or during the working day will also be available to meet CPD requirements.

We are currently reviewing the company training requirements, therefore in 2024, training sessions on a Saturday will change, and instead be held as shorter training sessions on a weekday evening from 4.30pm – 6.30pm (on 11th March, 19th June and 7th October 2024).

Company Events and Socials:

·       At SouthSide we believe in building good relationships within the team and hold company social events and team activities by department and companywide.

·       We also hold annual milestone, 5-year, 10-year and 15-year Club events for team members that have been with the company for 5-years or more.

·       A bottle of prosecco to celebrate your birthday!

Friday drinks.