Since 2011
A lettings agent that only lets.
Hallwood started with eleven properties and one office above a bookshop on King Street. Fifteen years later we are two doors down with about 240, and we still do not have a sales department.
- Founded
- 2011, Knutsford
- Homes managed
- 241
- Team
- Nine, all in one office
- Longest tenancy
- 12 years and counting
The idea
Small patch, long memory.
Every property we manage is inside an hour's drive of King Street. That is not modesty, it is the constraint that makes everything else work: a plumber can get there this afternoon, an inspection does not eat a whole day, and the person who valued the house is the person who takes the call about the boiler four years later.
We have turned down instructions in Stockport, Warrington and Macclesfield town centre because we could not have serviced them properly. Growth that makes the service worse is not growth we want.
What we do want is the second property, and the one after that. More than half of our landlords came to us with one house and now have two or three. That is the only marketing that has ever really worked for us.
How we work
Three things we do not bend on.
These are not values on a wall. They are the three arguments we have most often with people who would like us to behave differently.
01
Say the number you mean
Over-valuing a property to win an instruction is the oldest trick in this industry and it costs the landlord two months of void to correct. We quote what we believe it will let for and show you why.
02
Answer the phone
Not a chatbot, not a form, not a callback promise. Between nine and half past five there is a person in the Knutsford office, and out of hours there is a number that reaches one.
03
No hidden margin
We do not mark up contractor invoices, take referral commission from referencing providers, or earn on insurance we recommend. Our income is the management fee. That is the whole model.
Who you deal with
Nine people, one room.
Four property managers, two lettings negotiators, an accounts manager, a compliance coordinator and Rachel, who founded the business and still does valuations. Every managed property has one named property manager and you have their direct line.
We are deliberately over-staffed on the management side and under-staffed on marketing. Most agencies do it the other way round, which is why the property looks wonderful in the photographs and nobody rings you back in year two.
- One named manager per property
- Direct dial, not a switchboard
- Inspections done by your manager
- Cover arranged when they are away
Regulation
Who holds us to account.
Letting agents in England still need no licence to trade. These memberships are voluntary, which is exactly why they are worth asking any agent about.
Members are qualified, inspected and bound by a code of practice. It also means you have somewhere to go if we get it wrong.
Your rent sits in a separate client account, reconciled daily, and is insured through Propertymark's CMP scheme.
Every deposit is registered with the TDS inside 30 days, with the prescribed information served.
Independent redress if a complaint cannot be resolved with us directly. Our complaints procedure is in the footer.
Coverage
Where you will find us.
If your property is a little outside this list, ring anyway — the boundary is about drive time rather than postcode.
Come and have a conversation.
Whether you are letting a property for the first time or moving four from another agent, the first conversation costs nothing and does not commit you to anything.