Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Team from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.
Nearly Half of Agency Enquiries Arrive Out of Hours, Says LightWork
Proptech firm LightWork AI says nearly half of calls, emails and portal enquiries received by estate and letting agencies arrive outside normal working hours. Its analysis of enquiries handled by its AI assistant Felicity in July, August and September 2026 found that 43% arrived outside 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
The figures break down to 28% of phone calls and 49% of emails and portal enquiries arriving out of hours. LightWork says the findings point to growing pressure on agency staff to remain available during evenings, weekends and holidays, adding to wider concerns around workload, burnout and retention across the sector.
Supporting Research Cited
LightWork also cited third-party research from Hays and Alto — that 65% of property and built environment professionals work beyond their contracted hours, while six in 10 estate and letting agencies report burnout among their teams. Full-time estate agents also earn an average of £35,990 a year, according to ONS figures, around 26% below the UK full-time average.
The 'Always-On' Agent
LightWork says the nature of estate agency means staff can feel unable to ignore an out-of-hours enquiry because it could represent anything from a potential instruction to an urgent maintenance issue.
Leonard Charlton, co-founder of LightWork AI, said: "When we started handling calls and emails for agencies, we expected some after-hours demand. We didn't expect it to be the nearly as much as it did. For many branches, most of the enquiries come in when the office is closed."
He added: "The result is that [agents] never really finish work. They're under pressure, they're dealing with clients in times of high stress, and then their evenings and weekends disappear too. It's no surprise the industry is struggling to keep good people."
What LightWork Says Felicity Does
LightWork says Felicity is designed to handle routine enquiries, qualify leads, book viewings and triage maintenance requests around the clock, with agencies able to set their own rules for when matters are escalated to staff. The company says the aim is to let agents focus on client-facing work while reducing the volume of routine enquiries reaching teams outside normal office hours.
Source: The Negotiator