PADZ.com is a new property rentals portal which has been launched and allows users to advertise and find any type of rental accommodation worldwide. Frustrated with the lack of a professional rental property portal that was open to both agents and landlords, the founders who are both private landlords decided to set about developing their own site. The site was launched in public beta in June 2009 and has now been released in full.

PADZ has been developed from the ground up to provide a flexible platform which can cater for all types of residential property rentals. Properties can be let on a standalone basis, grouped into development blocks, or broken down into individual rooms for rent including flat and house shares. This approach provides flexibility to advertise anything from large institutional landlord portfolios through to individual rooms and even holiday rentals. A calendar for each property and room allows users to set flexible pricing and to manage availability for short lets and holiday rentals.

The PADZ search technology uses a unique global indexing system which allows properties to be listed in any location in the world. Users can also tap in to their social network by promoting properties on Facebook and Twitter.

The founders noticed that they were getting fewer responses from their property adverts on traditional free classified sites as tenants were being turned off by the volumes of spam and scams appearing on these sites. To address this problem, PADZ has been designed with a strong social networking element which allows users to build their credibility and trust online.

Tenants can leave reviews about the property that they stayed in and feedback about the landlord. Similarly landlords can leave reviews about their tenants which can then be used as a reference for future rentals. In houseshares, tenants can check the profiles of the other housemates already living in the property online.

Landlords and agents are charged a daily rate of £0.20 per listing and an initial listing fee of £3. This means that users only pay for the days of advertising that they actually use. PADZ currently offers a free trial with every listing.

About PADZ.com

PADZ is a property rental network that provides advertising services for landlords and agents to list properties and rooms for rent. The site was initially launched in public beta trial in June 2009. Tenants looking for properties to rent can add their requirements and search for free. The site currently lists properties in over 20 countries and with 40,000 unique visitors per month and rising.

The company was founded by Matthew Wilson, 34, and Thomas Karcher, 35, who are both property professionals and private landlords. Matthew is a chartered engineer by training and Thomas is a qualified architect.

During 2009, rents around the Peterborough area fell by 10-15% as extra properties to rent came onto the market from frustrated sellers. This allowed tenants for the first time in some years to ‘pick and choose’ the properties they wanted to rent – and negotiate hard on the price!

2010 however looks like it’ll be a very different picture according to Belvoir! Peterborough owner and award winning letting agent Terry Lucking. “We have seen a lot of the excess rental stock disappear over the last few months and tenants have to compete for properties again. Undoubtedly this will push up rental prices, especially in popular areas by as much as 5-10% in 2010.”

The long term prospect is even tougher for tenants. Despite falls in property prices, the need for deposits up to 25% has meant many people still can’t afford to buy, which is why people renting now dramatically exceeds the number of people buying. And with Opportunity Peterborough predicting a population increase of over 20,000 in the coming years, competition for good quality rented property is only likely to increase, and if supply doesn’t so will rents!

To help increase the supply of quality rented property in the Peterborough area, Terry is running the first Peterborough Buy to Let Conference on Thursday 25^th February 2010 and has put together great contributors, including Steve Bowyer, Strategic Director of Opportunity Peterborough; Kate Faulkner, Property Expert and author of Which? Essential Property Guides and Andrew Chatterton, a finance expert from St James’s Place.

“My aim with running this event is to ensure landlords and investors understand the amazing opportunities that Peterborough offers so we can provide more good quality rental properties to tenants. Despite the economic downturn and credit crunch, there are still thousands of landlords keen to invest and let good quality properties – and we need them!”

BOOK YOUR FREE SPACE NOW: enquiries@buytoletinpeterborough.co.uk or call 01733 286939

Editors Notes:
About the Peterborough Maximising Buy to Let Conference http://www.buytoletinpeterborough.co.uk/
The conference is organised and funded by Belvoir! Peterborough to help promote the region to new and existing landlords. The seminar format is a series of short presentations followed by Q&A discussions with property experts. There are two sessions, one from 1pm to 4pm and another from 6pm to 9pm.

About Terry Lucking

Terry is an award winning letting agent who is consistently voted the top performing agent of the Belvoir! Group and in 2007 received the coveted award of Franchisee of the Year 2007, voted by the British Franchise Association.
Terry is always keen to take part in business networks and volunteers his spare time to support franchising and is currently setting up the first National Landlord Association in the Peterborough area.

Belvoir! Peterborough and Corby expands into Cambridge
Belvoir! is one of the UK’s biggest franchised letting networks across the UK with over 140 offices, all of whom are members of the government backed National Approved Lettings Scheme. Terry Lucking, one of the group’s leading agents took over the Belvoir! Cambridge office in January 2010.