Pictured: Graham Bowcock

With the residential letting sector struggling to meet demand, a regional firm of chartered surveyors is hoping to kick start the market this winter with a half-price deal on letting services.

Berrys, which has offices in Cheshire, Shropshire and Northamptonshire, will be charging just five per cent for its residential management service for properties coming onto its books in November and December 2011.

Graham Bowcock, head of property management for Berrys, says there is a tremendous shortage of properties in the market, far too few for the number of tenants needing a home.

"The residential letting market was effectively de-regulated in 1989 and has been a buoyant industry ever since. However, the last 12 months has seen a shortage of properties available in the market.

"There are plenty of tenants about but not enough landlords and not enough properties."

This, he says, is probably due to funding, the banking crisis and job insecurities among many tenants who are staying put and not releasing properties for the market place.

"To help, we at Berrys have decided to offer a half price residential management services for the first  12 months in respect of any property coming onto our books in November and December, 2011. We will also include our letting service in this price.

"One price - five per cent of all rents collected (plus VAT). This is a full service with no compromise," he said.

The Berrys' deal includes: marketing and advertising costs, accompanied viewings, preparing the inventory, legal tenancy agreement, deposit protection, regular inspections and dealing with any repairs that come along.

"We are trying to do our bit to stimulate the market so if you have a property near one of our four offices at Northwich, Shrewsbury, Northampton and Kettering please give us a call today," he added.

For more information about Berrys, please visit their website here: www.berrybros.com