Malta’s lettings market is a stronghold for the property industry, yet how much do we really know about today’s rental client experience? A revitalised RE/MAX Lettings Malta now looks to answer this key question via the iGaming sector – and raise the game across local lettings.

RE/MAX Lettings Malta is trailblazing a new high standard for the island’s property rental market through a customer survey that asks clients from the iGaming sector about their lettings experience. 

Now led by RE/MAX Malta CEO Jeffrey Buttigieg and chief commercial officer Arnold Cini, the real estate giant’s lettings arm is currently consolidating its business with a greater focus on quality, performance management, customer service and agent professionalism. The move returns Malta’s favourite real estate brand to its roots – while lighting the way towards a brighter future for the country’s rental market.

“Lettings is where we started,” Buttigieg, who co-founded the RE/MAX Malta franchise with Kevin Buttigieg, said. “It is time for a hands-on approach to rebuild local lettings. While two years ago rental prices were high and only dropped slightly in early 2020, when the pandemic hit, the market felt the impact of reduced tourism and expats returning home to weather the COVID-19 storm. At that point, prices reduced significantly by around 25 to 40 per cent. Now we are coming into a new era due to the high take-up of vaccination and the renewed possibility of international travel, so the market is shifting again. This is the ideal moment to forge an improved and more client-focused lettings industry – and, of course, we need client consultation and feedback to do that.”

In collaboration with SiGMA Group, RE/MAX Lettings has launched an initiative whereby employees in gaming companies will receive a market research survey questionnaire, with their responses crucial to building a good understanding of current market sentiment.

The survey asks respondents questions relevant to the lettings industry both pre- and post-pandemic, such as whether they noted a change in rental prices or if this affected their behaviour, inspiring them to downgrade, upgrade or even switch to sharing a larger property with others to take advantage of lower rates. The survey also asked respondents what they believe may happen in the lettings market over the coming 12 months, as well as their take on the local cost of living in terms of food or entertainment.

“Since we have so many rental clients within the gaming sector, they are best placed to offer the general customer perspective of the current state of the industry,” continued Buttigieg, who will share the survey’s overall results during the SiGMA Europe gaming festival this month, as well as use the valuable data to home in on specific areas of improvement in the industry.

“We hope that we can alert Malta’s authorities to issues that they perhaps don’t yet recognise, which could have long-term repercussions – not just of a gaming community unhappy with their accommodation, the cost of living or their quality of life, but also of a low standard, unlicensed lettings industry.”

Shaped around this latest information about rental client sentiment, the revitalised RE/MAX Lettings Malta is working on creating new ties with clients and upping service standards from within the brand through providing improved and more bespoke training for lettings agents. 

Likewise, the real estate pioneer continues to push for letting agent licensing, a legislation only just on the industry’s horizon that may now signal a better experience to come for rental market customers across the island.

“As an industry, I believe we have failed the mark, with substandard lettings agents allowed to do the barest minimum with a poor business model, tarnishing the reputation and the credibility of everyone working within the market. It is time to level up across the board for our clients,” Buttigieg says. 

“Letting agents should have professional training and a customised licence, which focuses on the regulation of rental properties instead of on sales. We have changed the legislation to help tenants in terms of their consumer rights, but we have not yet addressed the consumer experience from an agent quality perspective. The industry must now hold rental property agents to a far higher standard of professionalism and quality – and RE/MAX Lettings Malta will once again be at the forefront of that change.”

Are you renting a property and part of Malta’s thriving iGaming sector? Make a difference to the island’s lettings industry today by completing the short survey at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6593968/Property-Rental-Trends-iGaming-Industry. Should you have any queries about this survey, kindly send an email to info@esprimi.eu. More information about RE/MAX Malta is available online at https://remax-malta.com/.