Askew: “Hidden gem”
Legal entrepreneur Brad Askew has relaunched a property website for landlords, which attracts up to 600,000 unique visits a year.
Mr Askew, who successfully sold Law on the Web to DAS in 2011 and is speaking at the upcoming Legal Futures Annual Conference, said the Tenancy Agreement Service was aimed particularly at the 78% of Britain’s 3.5m private landlords who only let one property.
“It’s a hidden gem. The content is written by solicitors and covers everything you need to know about starting, managing and ending a tenancy,” Mr Askew said.
“The biggest things people use it for are tenancy agreements and everything around ending a tenancy – where it’s easy to get the law wrong.”
“All our information is free. If people want more they can buy tenancy agreements and other legal documents. We can also connect landlords with solicitors if they need more help.”
Users can buy an assured tenancy agreement from the website for £7.50, drafted by Tessa Shepperson, owner of Landlord Law. Other documents can be obtained through an affiliate programme.
Mr Askew said the service currently referred work to one law firm, but he wanted to involve other firms over time.
“I want the real experts to come forward and blow their trumpets on our website,” he said. “I want them to write articles and blogs for free, and in return they can link people to their websites and they will pick up referrals.”
Meanwhile, Mr Askew said some people who wanted more help would be directed from the new website to Everyone Legal, a service he launched earlier this year which offers telephone advice for a single payment of £45.
Previously known as Naked Legal, Mr Askew said he dropped the name after Google searches produced results which “came up in the wrong context”.
Everyone Legal does not offer formal legal advice or refer clients to lawyers.
Mr Askew said he had also acquired www.conveyancingquote.com, a conveyancing information site, and was developing a panel of law firms to work with it. “The site is designed to be symbiotic with the tenancy agreement service, to make sure the journey for landlords is as seamless as possible.”
Mr Askew added: “The DIY market is huge. The problem with it is that people are never 100% sure whether online information is right or wrong.
“DIY works, but you can’t botch it when it involves legal things such as making tenants homeless. Our documents come with detailed guidance notes. It’s not just about having the right quality, but having the right people, like Tessa Shepperson, who are trusted.”
