As tenant challenge rises, the best agents are raising their game

August was another busy month for tenancy conclusions, with 2,505 tenancies processed through The Depositary. At the point this month’s reporting data was generated, that took the platform total to 92,135 conclusions; our live total has since moved on again to 95,186.

The headline this month, though, is not simply volume. It is the combination of two trends moving at the same time: tenant challenge is creeping upwards, while some of the strongest agents on the platform are getting faster and delivering increasingly consistent outcomes for landlords.

That makes August particularly interesting.

The average UK letting agent still manually reconciles deposits in around 28 days, compared with an average of approximately 12 days for agents using The Depositary. Our own target has always been to help agents reach 10 days or less. What August shows is that this is no longer just an aspiration for a small number of standout users. In several businesses, it is becoming embedded across whole teams.

Disputes edge higher

Of the 2,505 tenancy conclusions processed in August, 831 ended with no liabilities proposed. 254 cases were raised as disputes, giving a dispute rate of just over 10.1%.

That compares with around 9.4% in July, so the direction of travel is worth watching. Of August’s 254 disputes, 46 were resolved through Final Offer before they progressed further, meaning just over 18% were prevented from escalating.

That matters because the market feels increasingly contested. Tenants are becoming more willing to question proposed liabilities and, operationally, we believe easier access to AI is accelerating that behaviour. It is now much easier for someone to challenge wording, construct an objection or test the basis of a proposed claim in minutes.

Legislative change is also contributing to a more rights-aware environment, but the practical effect for agents is the same: evidence, communication and consistency matter more than ever.

In that context, the best agency results this month become even more impressive.

The 10-day benchmark is becoming real

At LRG, more than one in four users averaged reconciliations of 10 days or less, while 60% of the team secured 100% of proposed claims during August.

At Charters, the business averaged an extraordinary 7.6 days, with every member of the team averaging 10 days or less. Tony led the way with a personal average of 6.8 days, while the business still secured an average of 90% of proposed claims for landlords.

That is exactly the combination we want the Index to expose: not speed for speed’s sake, but speed backed by strong outcomes.

The same pattern appeared elsewhere. Haslams, part of the Foxtons Group, saw Becky average just 6.7 days, with 30% of the team in single digits and 40% averaging 12 days or less. Nearly 60% of the team secured 100% of claims for landlords.

At The Frost Partnership, half the team averaged 10 days or less, while the business secured an average of 93.28% of proposed claims.

And at Home Finders Swindon, Joe produced one of the month’s fastest individual results with an average of just 5.5 days.

What is becoming clearer is that the 10-day benchmark is no longer exceptional in the way it once was. More users are getting there, and more importantly, more teams are getting there together.

Speed and outcomes are moving together

Some of August’s strongest performances came from businesses combining fast reconciliation with near-perfect or perfect landlord outcomes.

Cooper Green Pooks averaged 12.4-day refunds while securing 100% of proposed claims for landlords.

Jones Robinson averaged just 9.8 days for let-only landlords while also achieving a 100% claims average. Across all service levels, more than 80% of the team secured 100% of claims for landlords.

At Paramount Properties, the business secured 100% for its let-only landlords, averaged 92.78% overall, and saw 60% of the team secure 100%, with 80% achieving 90% or more.

Pat Robson averaged more than 90% secured for landlords, with a third of the team achieving perfect 100% averages.

These are commercially meaningful results because they give landlords something agents have historically struggled to evidence: not just what service they promise, but what outcomes they actually deliver at the end of a tenancy.

That is becoming increasingly important. In a market where landlords are scrutinising expertise and service quality more closely, measurable performance gives professional agents a much stronger story to tell.

The impact behind the numbers

August also delivered a substantial operational benefit.

The 2,505 tenancy conclusions processed during the month saved agents around 7,500 working hours and removed approximately 40,000 days of waiting for landlords and tenants expecting funds.

Using a typical full-time working year of 1,750 hours, that means August alone returned the equivalent of around 4.3 full-time working years to agency operations. At an average property manager cost of £22.43 per hour, that represents roughly £168,000 of equivalent staffing time in a single month.

The waiting-time impact is just as striking. Forty thousand days equates to nearly 110 years of waiting removed during August alone.

And when compared with the roughly two-month average associated with self-managed landlords, the picture becomes even more powerful. Using a 45-day differential, August’s 2,505 conclusions represent more than 112,000 days of tenant waiting avoided — equivalent to around 309 years in one month.

The cumulative impact is now substantial too. Based on the August reporting snapshot of 92,135 tenancy conclusions, The Depositary has saved roughly 231,500 working hours and eliminated around 1.474 million days of waiting for landlords and tenants.

That is the equivalent of more than 132 full-time working years returned to agency businesses and around £5.2 million of equivalent staffing time.

It is also more than 4,000 years of waiting time removed.

Those figures are useful because they put operational improvement into terms everyone can understand. Better tenancy conclusion does not just make one process neater. It releases capacity back into property management teams, reduces avoidable friction and gets money back to landlords and tenants faster.

What August tells us

The most important message from August is that performance is improving at the same time as the environment is becoming more demanding.

Disputes are creeping higher. Tenants are more willing to challenge. AI is lowering the barrier to doing so. Yet the best agents are responding by becoming faster, more evidence-led and more consistent.

That is exactly why tenancy conclusion deserves to be measured.

The businesses standing out this month are not simply saying they offer a professional service. They are increasingly able to prove it through reconciliation times, claims outcomes and repeatable team performance.

And as the Index develops, that may become one of the most valuable benchmarks of all.