How to set up viewings with Advert Builder
This article includes:
How viewings work (advert published on or after 14th August 2025)
Anyone enquiring on your property advert is sent an email and text message with a link to request a viewing. They will select all of their available times from your pre-defined availability.
Our viewings work this way because:
- you avoid the back and forward of aligning diaries to find a suitable time
- you save time by seeing applicants back to back
- you get to screen requests and only accept the requests you are happy with
Before renters can submit their request to view, they have to answer a number of income-related questions to ensure they would be in a position to afford the rent. If the answers to the questions don't meet the threshold required by our referencing partner to pass referencing, we ask if they can pay rent upfront or have a guarantor. If they say no to both of these, we decline the request automatically.
If the viewing request is successful, we send you an email with the contact details of the person who requested to view, and how they have answered the income-related questions and additional questions about their household, pets, and access requirements. You can then ask any further questions you might have by getting in touch with them directly, and either accept or reject their request.
If your property advert was published before 14th August 2025, your viewings will work differently. Applicants will book directly into any batches of viewings you set up, after answering the qualifying questions.
If you would prefer to manage viewing requests instead of direct bookings, speak to your Lettings Expert and we can set that up for you. Republishing your advert won't apply the change.
How to set up viewings
Before you can advertise the property, you need to provide your availability for viewings, so applicants can choose a number of options from the times you’ve made available. This means every request you receive will already fit into your schedule, saving you the hassle of back-and-forth messages. You can add your viewing availability from the Viewings step of Advert Builder.
Click 'Add viewing availability', and choose from setting up an individual block of viewings or setting your general availability.
If you have a busy diary and only have specific times you can carry out viewings, it is best to set up individual blocks based on when you are available in the coming week or two.
If you can be a bit more flexible with when you hold viewings, and want tenants to select their availability from a wide range of options, it is best to set your general availability.
Setting up individual viewing blocks
Select the date for the block to take place, and select the start time and end time.
We'll display the number of 15 minute viewing slots that will be available during that block, based on the start and end time.
Setting your general availability
We've defaulted every day of the week, from 9am to 8pm. You can deselect any days you won't be available during the next week. For example, if you know you would never hold viewings on a Sunday, deselect that day so renters won't even see it as an option when providing their availability.
Change the times to suit your own sociable hours.
We'll let you know if your days and times clash with blocks you already have set up, so you don't have any overlap.
Host information
Click Next on either variation and add the details of who is meeting the renter at the property. We've defaulted it to you and filled in the details from your profile if you have added them. If you haven't completed your profile yet, you can add the details here instead and we'll save them to your profile. If someone else is meeting them, choose 'Someone else' and add their details.
Any comments you leave for the applicant will be visible on an email to them when the viewing is confirmed. This is a great place to include information about how to find the front door, if it isn't obvious.
If the viewing is confirmed, the renter will be given the host details so they can make contact if they are running late, or struggling to find the property. If you don't want them to be given your personal phone number, ask your Lettings Expert for a WhatsApp for business number to use for the duration of finding a tenant. When you've found tenants, you'll stop using that number.
When you've been given that number, add it to your profile under 'Assigned number'.
Once you click 'Save', either a single block will be created, or blocks for each day you had selected will be created, starting from tomorrow for the next 7 days. Whichever method is used, the start and end times of your blocks are applied (either for the single block or for each day you selected).
You can schedule as many blocks of viewings as you like, as long as they don't overlap - the more you add, the higher the chances that a renter is available at one of those times.
If you've already accepted requests into all of your viewing slots and another renter enquires on your property, they will receive an email letting them know that there isn't any viewing availability at the moment. Don't forget to add more blocks to continue to receive viewing requests.
Curious to see what the process looks like for renters? If you enquire on your own property (or someone else's), use a different email address to the one you used when you set up your landlord account with Hello Neighbour, to make sure the email and text to request a viewing comes through.