The HMO Letting Agent

Meet The Owner –

Vikki Marie Bond, M.A.R.L.A . Managing Director of Rooms to Let North East.

Vikki has 20+ years letting experience

Thank you for taking the time to check out our website.

LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

I started working with properties and HMO straight out of school, way back in the late 90s. A lovely stern lady at a training event decided my fate and sent me off to an Estate Agent office in Sunderland to start my work experience. A different time then. Earned £30 a week for 40 hours work.

That £30 a week taught me a lot and gave me a taste for working hard.

After getting my head down in the Letting & Property Management Department, i became addicted to work and I was often told off by my boss for not going home at the end of the day. I loved work! I loved meeting new people and loved how action packed the work was. Everyday was a new day with new experiences. I was like a sponge just soaking up as much knowledge and experience that i could.

Property was not my chosen path and not my end goal by far. I always wanted to work in Social care / Children services. In 2003 i planned a chosen career and worked towards going to University. Gaining distinction in Child Psychology at college, decided to work towards change. By this time in life , i also had a 1 yr old son and was working 2 other jobs and the properties.

In 2003 I was receiving many referrals and recommendations. Students all referring their friends to me for properties in Sunderland. As I filled more and more Student Housing, I was also collecting more houses to manage from recommendation of landlords/ investors. Life plans got pushed further and further behind and i kept on working hard in the property industry.

By 2006 HMO licencing came into play. Houses were all getting upgraded, brought up to date with fire safety and licenced to meet the rules.

More changes more rules. More work. More time went by. Amazing when your busy how quick life flashes by. Somewhere around this time id realised my chosen career plans had been shelved for so long and i couldn’t actually see myself doing anything else than property because i loved all areas of it and it had become life.

By 2010 with ever changing legislation I decided to make Lettings my career. I wanted to ensure I had a worthwhile career after ditching off my social work dream and ensure i was always in the know and up to date. I started my studies of ARLA now Property Mark and continued working hard at the job I loved.

Now its 2025!

JUST like that in a blink of an eye , WOW what a journey! From a young lady working in the industry from 16 years old to the good (old) age I am now.

Property Management:

We work hard with our property management team. Making sure the HMO houses are always visited regularly to keep up with compliance. We manage tenants in long term family homes too. HMO checks every fortnight. Regular property visits are 3 and 6 months depending on the property / tenants.

We have a team of contractors that maintain and look after repairs / work and refurbishment.
Our Safety Team for all required certification
Fire Safety Contractors looking after the Fire Safety of Buildings.
Cleaners that attend to communal space every fortnight. Combined with our staff carrying out checks and ensuring the houses are free from issues.
We have all the tech / tools to ensure the smooth running of management and abide by the ever-growing legislation. Top TECH to keep up with compliance.

We are always training in new technologies and taking on new processes to ensure we are working to our best abilities. Might be a 80s girl but not afraid of Technology. (except tik tok)

Big changes due again , we have adapted through change throughout the years. Now is no different. Just easier because of the resources now and the technology.

Lettings:

We receive a lot of our customers through recommendations. We work hard on our reputation and have housed a lot of tenants over the years. We have our own marketing , website and are registered with online portals.

All tenants are assessed in full and complete their references. We have a wealth of experience with matching up tenants in HMO- house share.

90% of our long term family housing is advertised and let through our own leads. Properties hardly ever making the open market. The properties let before the current tenant vacates.

When we receive a notice the accommodation is assessed in a pre check and any work for turn around organised to ensure a seamless change over and no or min voids, gaps in tenants. Something learned from the 90s with the huge summer turn overs.

Qualifications/ Education :

Every year we undertake continued professional development to ensure up to date with new changes.

We undertake this with Property Mark our Regulatory Body and other Property Professional Providers .

Experience / Knowledge

Over all the years of property management experience, id love to say we have seen it all. There is always room for a new scenario to pop up. Its vital to have experience and knowledge in Property Lettings & Management, especially now more than ever. When NEW scenarios crop up, we are blessed to have worked hard on being part of Property Mark. Having the support and guidance of Property Mark behind us, always someone to reach out to for assistance to the unknown.

Regulation:

To give our customers peace of mind. We have been preparing for the Regulation of Property Agents. Rooms to Let already operate a Transparent & Professional Agency. We work hard on continued professional development to maintain our Professional Memberships. We are members of Property Mark , We are members of the NRLA. We have Property Redress Scheme. Client Money Protection – ring fenced Client accounts and the required CMP Insurance. Fully insured both Public and Liability Insurances. Deposit Protection. ICO Data Protection.

The Goal:

Created Rooms to Let in 2015 to jump into a market for affordable homes for our NHS. We seen a need for more room lets for Professionals/ workers and NHS. These were our main customers coming for help to find homes. From rooms to long term housing solutions for their families. At the time there was a shortage of places. The student market took a tumble after Purpose Built Student Accommodation swept the market.

We decided to convert our student places over to professional Co- Living Houses to meet the demand we were receiving from Customers looking for rooms and housing in the North East.

We wanted to supply safe ,secure, good places for people to live.

Went from filling up houses with groups of students and having to turn most of our portfolio around each summer with new students.

To having more long term professional – working tenants coming to work in the North East. Turning around available rooms instead of full houses.

Already working the market so long and seen the change. Adapted the stock towards the demand that was needed.

Proud of Rooms to Let and where it went and how well it worked. Through nothing else Rooms to let was born and grown out of extreme hard work !!! Rooms to let was created from zero pounds – only hard work went in. Who can say that Zero Investment- No funds, loans Nothing!. Everything you see today with Rooms to Let was created from its own growth from recommendation of others for good all around service. Many Years of Dedication to the JOB. ( yeah exhausting)

Goals and visions of 2015 – to make a Room Let Agency to cover the market demand and be a”Professional Room Let Agent” Rooms to Let – A go to for place for Great Accommodation.

working hard on the career and goals each year , as well as jumping through all the hurdles of legislation.

Our goal is to keep providing great accommodation and housing to tenants in the North East.

As well as taking on lots of new studies, we have many new projects in the pipeline for the North East and are providing lots of new rooms in key areas of the North East. We have some lovely New Family Homes for our NHS tenants waiting patiently for great places to be available.

We are also moving our office from Gateshead to Durham in 2025 ! Hopefully find the time for this.

Technology:

We are always evolving taking on new Tech to make our tenants, landlords and our lives easier. Ring Fenced Accountancy Software , CRM, Property Management Software. AI systems.

Landlords who work with Rooms to Let know ..

Full Compliance
A great service
Min voids
New technology
No stress , that’s our job
Have a Professional Agent who is up to date with legislation/ accreditation.
Required ring fenced security client accounts
Fully insured
PRS- registered
ICO – data protection
Years of experience with HMOs and other lets
Years of experience with Single let family homes
Specialist HMO agency that can let Rooms / Studios
Landlords with single let / family homes -pre qualified / referenced tenants picked out from our CRM system. Majority have had 6 months service before hand.