Reapit, known as the original, end-to-end business technology provider for real estate agencies, has tailored its latest platform updates and new training programme with the vision of giving agencies clarity, consistency and confidence through the period of change, as the new Renters’ Rights Act is all set to kick in the next couple of months.

“The Renters’ Rights Act is a defining moment for lettings in England, representing the biggest change in 30 years. At a time when clarity matters more than ever, agents need confidence that the tech and data they rely on is complete, consistent and backed by real industry experience,” said Steve Richmond, Reapit’s General Manager for UKI.

“Reapit holds one of the most extensive and structured datasets in the United Kingdom property technology. Decades of tenancy history, rent changes, property records and agency activity in a continuously changing market have given us the depth needed to build the tools agents need to help them through this transition. This level of insight does not appear overnight, and it cannot be replicated easily,” he added.

“Our role is to turn that depth of experience into certainty for agents so they can remove unnecessary admin, reduce risk, have confidence in their technology and stay focused on service and growth as the new rules take effect. These new tools and our national training programme reflect the commitment we have made to support the industry through the arrival of the Renters’ Rights Act and beyond, long after it becomes part of everyday practice,” Richmond noted.

Reapit has been helping real estate sales, as its technology connects property professionals in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand with buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords. Currently, its technology is used by more than 92,000 agents in more than 18,000 branches. The property agent software has over 1.3 million properties under management, enabling its customers to run their businesses, identify growth opportunities, efficiently sell homes, manage rental properties, collect rent, and communicate with their clients.

The Renters’ Rights Act will see a move away from fixed-term tenancies. While Reapit currently gives agents the ability to manage Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs) throughout their life cycle, it will train industry professionals to step away from practices like contract renewal negotiations, which will become a thing of the past from May 2026.

Property agents will also be able to update large groups of existing tenancies to APTs in a single action, saving considerable time, while seamlessly adapting to the new tenancy type.

According to the company, from May 1, tenants on APTs will be able to give landlords two months’ notice at any time, while landlords will need a Section 8 notice to end a tenancy. Reapit has updated its Notice Management section so agents can record and track who gave notice, when it was received, the proposed and end date of a tenancy, the reason for the notice, uploaded documents, and a log of any required court attendance – all in one place. This removes the need to search across emails, spreadsheets or notes and ensures teams can see the full picture of an ending tenancy at a glance.

Notice information flows directly into Reapit’s in-depth reporting and customisable letter templates, which means teams only enter information once, and can use it across the platform. This reduces errors and supports clearer communication with tenants and landlords.

As the Renters’ Rights Act outlaws accepting bids above the advertised rent, apart from making Section 13 notices for rent increases a mandatory practice, Reapit will alert users if the rent entered when arranging the tenancy is higher than the property’s advertised rent. This will help prevent non-compliance with new rent bidding rules.

Reapit’s new rent review tools allow agents to easily track when a tenant’s rent is due for review, and store comparable rents using matching reports, or the Insights Pro integration with Homesearch. By providing this information upfront to tenants, they will be less likely to delay any fair rent increase by challenging it at a tribunal.

Agents can track deadlines, plan future rent reviews and complete the process in one place. This helps teams stay organised and ensures agents know when to advise landlords that rent adjustments are needed.

Image Credits: Reapit

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Since they won’t be able to afford it, landlords and social housing developers need to be shielded from the upcoming increase in electricity prices.

“Currently, social-housing tenants are not cushioned from the high cost of municipal services, including the exorbitant price of electricity in any way,” Karabelo Pooe, general manager of Nasho said, as reported by the Zawya.

“This is despite the fact that around 35% to 40% of social housing tenants earn below 6,700 rand per month, and therefore should qualify as indigent. However, because they rent their homes through an ‘institutional landlord’, they are not able to apply for indigent benefits. This means that although they are in effect indigent, they are expected to fund their living costs without the safety net of indigent subsidies,” he elaborated further.

This means that tenants of social housing, or affordable housing, who meet the income requirements to be considered indigent, for example, in places like the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), find it difficult to apply for benefits due to burdensome municipal procedures and bureaucratic red tape.

Unfortunately, this is not specific to Johannesburg City. In most South African municipalities with social housing projects, tenants living in poverty are also not able to obtain basic services at no cost or a reduced cost.

If someone is eligible for benefits, they should be given them regardless of whether they live in social housing, own their property, or rent from a private landlord.

“If a person is indigent, irrespective of the tenure of where they live, they should be given access to the benefits that go along with indigency in their local municipality,” Pooe said.

However, currently, a large contingent of social housing tenants is being excluded from these benefits and will be made even more vulnerable upon implementing the 40% electricity tariff increase.

“This (the above scenario) will of course also hold negative consequences for social-housing landlords, who will see their tenants battle to keep up with rents, and possibly lead to rental boycotts which can cripple the sector,” Pooe concluded.

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According to a New York politician and a group of local tenants’ statement on Monday, they have evidence of forgery against Kushner’s family-owned real estate company.

New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres said he is probing an investigation into Kushner Cos. and stated that there are possibilities that it ‘may have averted accountability, harassed tenants, and sought to use construction as a method of harassment’.

Housing Rights Initiative (HRI), a non-profit organisation that works to protect tenants from fraudulent real estate owners, is investigating the issue and found the company was issuing fake building permits. Aaron Carr, the executive director of HRI has accused the company of using construction to bother tenants with rent controls and compelling them to leave.

“This is not a clerical error. This is a window into the Kushner Companies’ business practices,” Carr said. “This is just the tip of a very dirty iceberg.”

A spokeswoman for Kushner’s company Christine Taylor refuted the allegations and stated: “The investigation is trying to create an issue where none exists.”

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