Portfolio Lettings & Property Manager
Full-time | Chorley
The Role
We are looking for an experienced, organised and commercially minded Portfolio Lettings & Property Manager to take day-to-day responsibility for the management of our residential property portfolio.
This is a broad and responsible position with considerable autonomy. Working directly with the company directors, you will effectively run the day-to-day lettings and property management operation, taking ownership of everything from advertising and tenant enquiries through to rent collection, financial reconciliation, compliance, maintenance and contractor management.
This is not simply a lettings or administrative position. We are looking for someone who is comfortable taking responsibility for a portfolio, making decisions, solving problems and ensuring that both the properties and the financial side of the business are properly managed.
The successful candidate will become the central point of contact for our tenants, contractors, suppliers and directors. You will need to understand what is happening across the portfolio at any given time and ensure that issues are dealt with efficiently rather than simply passed on.
As the portfolio grows, there will be an opportunity for the role to develop further and for the successful candidate to help shape the systems, procedures and future property management team around them.
Key ResponsibilitiesLettings and Occupancy
You will manage the complete lettings process across the portfolio, including:
- Advertising available properties and ensuring listings are accurate and well presented
- Managing enquiries from prospective tenants
- Arranging and conducting property viewings
- Processing applications, referencing and right-to-rent checks
- Preparing tenancy documentation and coordinating tenant move-ins
- Managing deposits and ensuring the appropriate documentation is issued
- Monitoring upcoming vacancies and tenancy expiry dates
- Managing renewals, rent reviews and tenant notices
- Proactively working to minimise void periods and maintain strong occupancy across the portfolio
- Coordinating check-outs, inventories and deposit deductions where necessary
- Maintaining accurate records of all tenant and tenancy activity
Rent Collection and Financial Management
A significant part of the position involves maintaining accurate financial control of the rental portfolio.
Responsibilities will include:
- Monitoring rent payments across all properties
- Reconciling rents received against individual tenant accounts
- Identifying arrears quickly and following them up appropriately
- Maintaining accurate rent schedules and financial records
- Recording deposits, payments, refunds and other tenancy-related transactions
- Reconciling contractor and supplier invoices against works undertaken
- Checking invoices before payment and querying discrepancies
- Maintaining records of property expenditure
- Producing regular reports for the directors covering rental income, arrears, occupancy, expenditure and other key portfolio information
- Liaising with the company's accountants and bookkeepers where required
- Assisting with budgets and monitoring the financial performance of individual properties
Accuracy is particularly important. We need someone who is comfortable working with numbers and understands that relatively small errors can become significant when managing multiple properties and tenancies.
Property Maintenance and Contractor Management
You will take responsibility for coordinating maintenance and repairs across the portfolio.
This will include:
- Receiving and assessing maintenance requests from tenants
- Determining the appropriate response and urgency
- Instructing contractors and arranging access
- Obtaining quotations where appropriate
- Comparing costs and ensuring expenditure represents reasonable value
- Monitoring outstanding jobs and ensuring works are completed
- Checking that completed works have been carried out satisfactorily
- Maintaining good relationships with reliable contractors and suppliers
- Challenging costs or workmanship where appropriate
- Maintaining records of repairs and expenditure against each property
- Identifying recurring maintenance problems and bringing these to the attention of the directors
- Coordinating planned and preventative maintenance rather than relying solely on reactive repairs
You will be expected to use judgement. Minor maintenance matters should generally be dealt with independently, while significant expenditure, unusual issues or matters affecting the value of an asset should be escalated to the directors.
Property Inspections and Standards
You will help ensure that our properties remain well maintained and presentable throughout each tenancy.
Responsibilities will include:
- Arranging and undertaking periodic property inspections
- Recording the condition of properties
- Identifying maintenance requirements
- Following up actions arising from inspections
- Managing tenant responsibilities relating to property condition
- Coordinating end-of-tenancy inspections and remedial works
- Preparing properties for re-letting
- Monitoring communal areas where applicable
- Ensuring contractors maintain appropriate standards when working within occupied properties
Compliance and Property Records
You will maintain the compliance records for the portfolio and ensure that required inspections, certificates and renewals are monitored.
This may include:
- Gas safety certificates
- Electrical safety inspections
- Energy Performance Certificates
- Fire safety requirements
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm requirements
- HMO and selective licensing requirements where applicable
- Deposit protection requirements
- Right-to-rent documentation
- Property insurance information
- Contractor documentation
- Other statutory or regulatory requirements affecting residential lettings
You will maintain a clear compliance calendar so that renewals and inspections are arranged in good time.
You are not expected to act as the company's legal adviser, but you should have a good working knowledge of residential property management requirements and recognise when specialist advice is required.
Tenant Management
You will be the principal day-to-day contact for tenants.
This includes:
- Responding professionally and promptly to tenant enquiries
- Resolving problems wherever reasonably possible
- Managing complaints fairly and consistently
- Communicating regarding maintenance, inspections and access
- Managing rent arrears conversations
- Addressing breaches of tenancy conditions where appropriate
- Maintaining appropriate professional boundaries
- Keeping clear written records of important conversations and decisions
We aim to provide good-quality homes and a professional service to our tenants. At the same time, the successful candidate must be comfortable dealing firmly and fairly with difficult situations when necessary.
Business Administration and Reporting
As the person responsible for the day-to-day operation of the portfolio, you will ensure that the directors have clear and accurate information about its performance.
You will:
- Maintain accurate property and tenancy records
- Keep the property management software fully updated
- Maintain organised electronic files and documentation
- Monitor important dates and deadlines
- Produce regular management information
- Report occupancy, voids, arrears and rental income
- Report maintenance expenditure and significant outstanding works
- Highlight emerging problems before they become significant
- Recommend improvements to systems and processes
- Help develop procedures that allow the portfolio to grow efficiently
What We Are Looking For
The position would suit someone who has previously worked within residential lettings, property management or a similar property environment and is ready to take greater ownership and responsibility.
We are particularly interested in someone who is:
- Highly organised and comfortable managing a large number of competing tasks
- Confident working independently without requiring constant supervision
- Financially competent and comfortable reconciling payments and working with spreadsheets
- Accurate and methodical with records and documentation
- Commercially aware and conscious of the cost of voids, arrears and unnecessary expenditure
- Confident dealing with tenants and contractors
- Comfortable negotiating prices and challenging invoices where necessary
- Able to distinguish between matters that can be dealt with independently and those requiring director involvement
- Proactive rather than reactive
- Calm and practical when problems arise
- Comfortable taking responsibility for decisions
- Professional and approachable in written and verbal communication
- Interested in improving systems rather than simply following existing processes
Experience and Skills
Essential:
- Previous experience within residential lettings, property management or a closely related role
- Strong administrative and organisational skills
- Good understanding of the residential tenancy lifecycle
- Experience managing tenant enquiries and property maintenance
- Good numerical ability
- Strong Microsoft Excel skills
- Confidence working with property management and other cloud-based software
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Strong attention to detail
- Ability to prioritise and manage your own workload
- A practical understanding of residential lettings compliance
Desirable:
- Experience using Arthur Online or similar property management software
- Experience managing HMOs and apartment buildings
- Experience reconciling rents or client/property accounts
- Experience managing contractors and maintenance budgets
- Experience dealing with tenancy arrears and deposit disputes
- Knowledge of residential property licensing and compliance
- ARLA Propertymark qualification or similar industry qualification
The Type of Person We Need
The most important aspect of this role is ownership.
We are looking for someone who wants to know what is happening across the portfolio and takes responsibility for getting things done.
If a rent payment is missing, you will investigate it. If a contractor has not attended, you will follow it up. If a certificate is approaching expiry, you will arrange the renewal. If a property is becoming vacant, you will ensure that the re-letting process has already started.
The directors will remain available to support significant decisions, unusual situations and wider business matters, but we want the successful candidate to become the person we can rely upon to ensure the day-to-day property management business operates properly.
About Us
We are an established property business involved in the development, ownership and management of residential property.
Our portfolio primarily comprises professionally managed residential accommodation, including apartments and shared accommodation, and we have an active programme of acquiring and developing additional properties.
Unlike a traditional high-street letting agency, our primary focus is the management of our own portfolio. This means the emphasis of the role is on long-term property performance, good tenant relationships, maintaining our buildings and protecting rental income, rather than generating external landlord instructions.
As our portfolio continues to expand, this position has the potential to develop into a more senior operational role with responsibility for helping us build and manage a larger property management function.
What We Offer
- A responsible and varied position with genuine autonomy
- Direct involvement with the directors and decision-makers
- The opportunity to manage and improve an established residential portfolio
- Scope to introduce better systems and ways of working
- A role that can grow in responsibility as the portfolio expands
Application
Please apply with your CV together with a short introduction outlining your experience in residential lettings or property management and why you believe you would be suited to taking day-to-day responsibility for a growing residential property portfolio.
Pay: £25,420.00-£38,368.46 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Transport links
- Work from home
Work Location: In person
