A new mobile and web based app has promised to change the way landlords and tenants communicate with one another.

The new “Arthur” app has been devised by a group of buy-to-let landlords who saw a need for better communication with their tenants. They have developed a suite of apps to better manage their property portfolios and their relationships with their tenants.

“As a part time landlord and a co-founder of Arthur I used to look at renting out my properties as doing the tenant a favour. I saw any complaints or issues raised as an irritation. Especially if I was on holiday and a call or text came through with a problem”, says Marc Trup, co-founder of Arthur.

“I suddenly realised that I was looking at it all wrong, my tenants were actually my customers and I knew that if my portfolio was to continue to grow I would have to apply different business principles to ensure tenant retention. I started to look at things from my tenants’ point of view and worked out what I could do to add value to their experience and make the communication about every aspect of the landlord/tenant relationship more efficient on both sides”.

Trup says the customer experience is key for tenant retention and an easy to use app that provides a quick response from the landlord/property manager makes for a happy tenant who is more likely to renew their tenancy. The aim of the app is to give tenants a sense of reassurance about how their landlord or property manager runs their business.

Three years in the making, the Arthur app covers all aspects of the tenant/landlord experience, with different sections for documents, utilities, reporting issues, tracking issue resolution, messages between contractors, landlords and tenants, and a section for renewing or ending the tenancy.

The app enables tenants to access documents related to their tenancy and property together with their financial statement, utility and inventory information. But above all it gives the tenant the ability to raise and track an issue to completion.