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While rental bidding is typically shunned by Australians, a new site from the UK is designed to give landlords top dollar for their property.
Earlier this year, Residential Property Manager reported on a campaign from mainstream media to stamp out rental bidding.
While industry figures defended the opportunity for prospective tenants to volunteer higher rents or longer leases, the public slammed the practice as a shady money-grabbing tactic.
However, in the UK earlier this year a website dedicated to rental bidding was unveiled to mixed reactions.
Auctionlets.com, which went live in January, is pitting prospective tenants against one another to generate top rental prices.
According to the site, “due to the competitive nature of the bidding environment, landlords can achieve the best possible price for their property”.
However, speaking to the UK’s The Guardian, the site's founder, Spencer Rose, denies the site aims to push rental prices up even higher.
“Ultimately, the market will dictate what tenants pay; if a landlord puts a property up and it is too expensive, tenants simply won't go for it,” he said.
“Tenants will only be able to bid for what they can afford because of the pre-checking carried out beforehand, but it could mean they grab themselves a bargain. The way it is at the moment, tenants know what they are going to pay, but it is up to the agent who gets selected.”
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