Employers, extra costs & outsourcing 

One month on from Labour’s first Autumn Budget and the property world is still adjusting. Professionals are adapting to how overnight changes affected purchasers of additional properties, how sales pipelines will be affected between now and 31st March 2025 and where the market might head after blanket stamp duty changes come into effect from 1st April 2025. 

NI changes for employers

With fewer column inches within the property trade press but just as important was the Chancellor’s bid to raise funds via employers. Rachel Reeves is increasing the National Insurance rate and reducing the threshold that employers start paying it at.  

The detail matters: National Insurance paid by employers on a worker’s earnings above £175 will rise from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025. At the same time, the salary point at which employers start paying tax will reduce from £9,100 per year to £5,000. 

Additionally, there will be a higher minimum wage for 18-20 year olds, over 21s and apprentices, higher business rates (the current discount of 75% will drop to 40%) and a cost to employers for adapting to new workers’ rights (a shift estimated to cost £5 billion a year to implement, according to the Government’s own analysis). 

On the horizon: the Employment Rights Bill  

October was not reserved exclusively for the Autumn Budget. Labour’s Employment Rights Bill had its first and second readings in the House of Commons, and is now at committee stage. Its contents will also shape how employers approach business, with low earners and part-time staff set to qualify for statutory sick pay, guaranteed weekly hours for those on zero hours contracts and measures to tackle the gender pay gap all proposed reforms. 

More expensive to employ 

What does the above have to do with property and outsourcing? Business analysts and employment specialists widely agree that the Autumn Budget may prevent many businesses from hiring new staff due to increased payroll costs. Simply put, many companies will be unable to afford to grow their workforce and may choose not to replace staff when they leave. 

The extra expenses attached to payroll has cracked the door open for proptech to come in and lighten the load. Indeed, proptech was the topic of the day at The Landlord Conference 2024, organised by the NRLA. 

Take-up of proptech to fill the gap? 

Cost and time efficiencies, accountability, transparency, simplicity – all these facets are true about proptech but when asked who doesn’t use proptech, around half of the landlords and property managers at the conference raised their hands.  

Now, factoring in the Autumn Budget’s hike to employer costs and a possible change in the rhythm of the market next year, will that show of hands be less in 2025? And again in 2026 when the Employment Rights Bill is expected to pass into law? 

If there’s software that eliminates the need to replace a part-time accounts assistant, why resist it? How about an app that automates the tenant sign-up process and turns their enquiries into hot leads? Sign me up! 

With the promise of such slick working practices, we began to question why a snap poll at a property conference revealed around 50% of property managers and landlords were not buying into proptech. The reason was touched upon by the host. 

The personal touch in property 

It was acknowledged that the industry still needs a human element. Although home movers are consumers, they aren’t making a perfunctory purchase. The transactions aren’t emotionless or quick. Movers are chasing new lifestyles, altering family dynamics, investing in their futures and handing over sums of money that run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

Yes, they want to move quicker and enjoy reduce risks but they also want a hand holding service, a real person they can call for updates and a compassionate team for when things go wrong. Perhaps removing all human interaction isn’t the healthiest direction for the property industry. It is, after all, a service industry not a faceless one. 

Conference attendees did hear the value in nurturing a personal tenant/landlord/property manager relationship. There are long-term advantages to getting to know the people involved, and good relationships can save as much time and money as a piece of new software.  

Speak to many property managers and agents, however, and they simply don’t have the time or staff to meet, greet and foster direct links in the way they’d like. Outsourcing is emerging as the gap that bridges the two: a middle ground between yielding completely to proptech and retaining boots on the ground.  

Digital bookings, human customer service 

For years, outsourcing has been a smart way to reduce fixed costs and budget more efficiently. Now, more than ever, outsourcing allows employers to rationally audit their outgoings and evaluate how they provide services, without compromising the human touch. For example, Viewber’s ‘pay as you go’ set-up is powered 100% by freelance property professionals who can be hired on an ‘as and when required’ basis to visit properties and accompany viewings. 

We too are on the proptech train. Viewber’s online dashboard gives agents, landlords, property managers, social housing providers and auctioneers a simple way to book property visits, track feedback and access reports. Crucially, however, our service is delivered by humans who are integral to the emotional and psychical aspects of moving home and living in a property. 

The benefits of in-person property services 

Viewber is part of the drive for better wellbeing, support and empathy in property, working in tandem with professionals and proptech. As such, our visits often provide clients with feedback that no amount of sophisticated proptech would spot or deliver.  

If the cost of running your business, staffing departments and paying increasing employer contributions is worrying, please speak to Viewber. Although we are a people-first service, our structure is designed specifically for cost-effectiveness. We can help you navigate the next employment chapter. Get in touch for advice.