Lettings follow-ups
A lettings follow-up answers the applicant and tells the landlord what changed. It names the right deposit, it does not attach personal documents, and it does not revive section 21.
Applicants
Reply with the rent, the date they can view, and the point they asked about: pets, bills, furnishing, parking, sharers. After the viewing, say whether you are inviting them to apply or showing them something else. If you take a holding deposit, the email says it is a holding deposit, states the amount, and does not call it non-refundable. England caps that payment at one week’s rent. Other countries differ.
Referencing is a status: started, waiting on the applicant, back with the landlord. The credit file stays where it is. Right to rent, in England, is a separate check with Home Office rules. Do not tell a landlord that one has covered the other.
Landlords
A useful note is short: number of enquiries, viewings done, any offer of rent, what you need from them. Send it when the status changes, and on a day you agreed if they want a rhythm. Do not forward applicant identity documents. Do not advise them to serve a particular notice. Point notice questions at their adviser and at the current GOV.UK guidance.
Repairs and check-in are operational. An assistant can draft a tenant message you have already decided to send, such as a boiler instruction or a move-in time. It should not authorise spend.
Old templates
Search your folder for “AST”, “fixed term of 12 months” and “section 21” before an assistant is allowed to reuse it. New English lets from 1 May 2026 are periodic assured tenancies, and section 21 is not the tool it was. Wales and Scotland need their own wording. One group template for every country will be wrong somewhere.
Deposit protection wording should name the scheme only when you know which scheme this tenancy uses. “Protected in a government scheme” is the honest line until the certificate exists.
Using KeyAccess
Draft the applicant email and the landlord email in the connected mailbox. Approve both. If the lettings software is not in the direct directory, use website login and test the click-path before you tell the team it is done. The integrations pages for Goodlord-style tools are only published where we can describe the real mechanism. We do not invent connectors.
Match applicants to homes on budget, size, area and the conditions they stated. Refuse requirements that are about the person rather than the property.
Questions
Can we still mention section 21?
Only as history, and not as a step you will take on a new English tenancy. Staff should read the glossary note and the official guide before speaking to a landlord about possession.
Who approves a holding-deposit email?
A person at the agency, before it is sent. The draft should use your figure and your deadline, not a model’s guess.
Should landlords get the referencing PDF?
Only if your process says they should. The default landlord update is the outcome, not the supporting documents.