Checkatrade vs 360 Maintenance: Why a Local Property Maintenance Company Is Better for Landlords

Checkatrade helps landlords search for tradespeople. 360 Maintenance deals with the wider job: coordinating repairs, access, records and multiple services through one local company.

For landlords in Peterborough, 360 Maintenance is the better choice for ongoing property repairs and maintenance. Checkatrade can help you search for an individual tradesperson — useful when you need a shortlist. A landlord's real problem, however, is getting the work assessed, booked, coordinated, completed and recorded while dealing with tenants, access and several different types of repair. Checkatrade is a contractor-discovery platform; 360 Maintenance is the company that deals with the maintenance.

The landlord verdict: choose the maintenance company, not the directory

Checkatrade can help you search for an individual tradesperson. That is useful when you have no existing contractor and need a shortlist. But a landlord's real problem is not searching. It is getting the work assessed, booked, coordinated, completed and recorded while dealing with tenants, access and several different types of repair.

Checkatrade is a contractor-discovery platform. 360 Maintenance is the company that deals with the maintenance.

That distinction matters. A directory can show you profiles and reviews, but it does not become your maintenance team. It does not remove the need to select the contractor, explain the job, arrange access, manage the appointment, coordinate any follow-on trade and collect the final records.

For one isolated job, a search platform can be enough. For rental properties, HMOs and portfolios, one accountable local maintenance company is the stronger, simpler and more useful operating model.

Checkatrade helps you find someone. 360 Maintenance helps you manage the property.

Checkatrade describes its service as a way to search by trade and location, compare profiles, read reviews and contact tradespeople for quotes. Its approved members must pass checks and commit to its standards.

Those features help with selection. They do not provide ongoing property maintenance management.

Checkatrade's own Platform Terms of Use make the limitation clear: the agreement for the work is a separate contract between the customer and the selected tradesperson. Checkatrade is not a party to that contract. Its terms also state that quotes displayed by approved tradespeople are not offered, underwritten or approved by Checkatrade.

In practical terms, the landlord still has to manage the business chosen through the platform.

With 360 Maintenance, the relationship is direct from the start. You report the repair to the company responsible for organising the work. For connected or recurring maintenance, you return to the same point of contact instead of beginning another contractor search.

What a landlord still has to do when using Checkatrade

Using Checkatrade may make the search easier, but it does not remove the work surrounding the repair. The landlord or letting agent may still need to:

1. Decide which trade category the problem belongs to.
2. Create the job and provide the information.
3. Compare different businesses, profiles and reviews.
4. Contact contractors and wait for replies.
5. Check availability, scope and price.
6. Select and instruct the contractor.
7. Introduce the tenant or arrange access.
8. Manage updates and missed information.
9. Find another trade if follow-on work is needed.
10. Collect invoices, photographs and completion details in whatever format each contractor supplies.

Repeat that process for a plumbing repair, then a lock change, then decorating, then rubbish removal, then an electrical issue. The platform has helped with discovery, but the landlord is still acting as the maintenance coordinator.

360 Maintenance is structured around the opposite approach: one local company handling multiple property-maintenance requirements through a consistent process.

The comparison landlords should actually make

The question is not, “Which website has the most tradespeople?”

The correct question is, “Which option removes more maintenance work from my desk?”

For landlords, 360 Maintenance wins on the criteria that matter after the search is over.

Why 360 Maintenance is the better landlord option

1. One contact instead of a list of trades

A landlord does not need another collection of telephone numbers. A landlord needs a dependable route for getting different problems dealt with.

360 Maintenance gives landlords and letting agents one local contact for general repairs and handyman jobs, plumbing, painting and decorating, lock changes, rubbish removal, void works and property-ready repairs. Electrical and gas work can be handled through appropriately qualified trades.

Instead of deciding which contractor to approach every time, you send the job details to the company already set up to support the property.

For a practical procurement checklist, see how Peterborough letting agents can compare maintenance contractors for several properties, including spending limits, tenant access and job records.

2. Direct accountability

When a contractor is found through Checkatrade, the contract for the work is with that contractor. Checkatrade's role is the platform relationship, not delivery of the maintenance service.

With 360 Maintenance, there is no directory sitting between the landlord and the job. The landlord deals directly with the local company receiving the instruction, coordinating the work and providing the job record. That is a clearer service relationship for recurring maintenance.

3. One process for connected jobs

Rental-property repairs rarely stay within neat trade categories.

A water leak may lead to damaged plaster or decoration. A void property may need waste removed, locks changed, small repairs completed and rooms redecorated before it is ready to market. An HMO may generate several minor issues across different rooms and communal areas.

With separate contractors, the landlord becomes responsible for working out the sequence and coordinating each visit. With 360 Maintenance, connected tasks can be reviewed and organised through one company.

4. Less repeated administration

The cheapest-looking route is not automatically the most economical route.

The total cost of maintenance includes the landlord's time: searching, comparing, explaining, arranging, following up and filing evidence. It also includes the operational effect of repairs that need several separate handovers. 360 Maintenance reduces repeated contractor onboarding. The process is straightforward: send the job list, photographs and postcode; receive a clear response; then arrange the work.

5. Consistent evidence and records

A completed repair is only part of the requirement for a professional landlord or letting agent. You may also need evidence of what was found, what was completed and how the property was left. 360 Maintenance can provide before-and-after photographs, written job summaries and monthly charge records for landlord and agent work. That gives portfolio clients a more consistent record than relying on the different habits of unrelated contractors.

6. Tenant and access coordination

An occupied repair involves more than a trade skill. Someone must communicate with the tenant, agree access and ensure that the landlord or agent receives the relevant update. Where agreed, 360 Maintenance can coordinate tenant communication and access as part of the job process. This reduces the number of separate conversations the landlord has to manage.

7. Continuity across the portfolio

Every time a landlord changes contractor, practical knowledge can be lost. A new person may need the address details, access arrangements, background to the problem and expected finish explained again.

A continuing relationship with a Peterborough-based maintenance company allows useful property knowledge to build over time: previous work, recurring issues, access information and the standard required for void or property-ready jobs. Checkatrade can help find someone near the postcode. 360 Maintenance can become the company that already knows the property.

8. Built for landlords, agents and HMOs

Checkatrade serves a broad market of homeowners and customers looking for individual trades. 360 Maintenance has a defined service for landlords, letting agents, portfolios and HMOs.

That service includes recurring maintenance, tenant and access coordination, void works, property-ready repairs, photo evidence, written summaries and monthly charge records. These are landlord operating requirements, not simply trade-search features.

What about Checkatrade's £1,000 guarantee?

Checkatrade advertises a guarantee of up to £1,000, and that may provide a potential additional safeguard for an eligible job. However, landlords should read what the guarantee actually says.

Under Checkatrade's published guarantee terms:

• the guarantee is discretionary;
• eligibility conditions and exclusions apply;
• the maximum payment for an approved claim is £1,000;
• the job must have been arranged through Checkatrade or paid through Checkatrade Pay;
• the problem must be reported within six months of completion; and
• it does not cover every problem or cost.

The terms list examples of excluded items, including knock-on losses, VAT and call-out fees. Checkatrade also states that the guarantee does not replace the customer's rights against the tradesperson.

The guarantee may be useful when its conditions are met. It does not change the basic service model: the landlord is still contracting with and managing the individual tradesperson, not Checkatrade.

Is Checkatrade ever useful for a landlord?

Yes — but mainly as a fallback search tool.

It can be useful when a landlord needs an unusual specialist outside a regular maintenance company's scope, has a property outside the company's service area or wants several quotes for a large standalone project.

That does not make it the better system for routine landlord maintenance. A directory is useful when you need to find a new supplier. The better result is not needing to restart that search for every repair.

The real cost of job-by-job maintenance

Landlords often compare only the figure on the quote. That misses the cost of managing the process.

Consider the work surrounding a relatively small repair:

• reading the tenant's report;
• deciding which trade is needed;
• contacting possible contractors;
• comparing replies;
• arranging access;
• handling changes;
• checking whether the work is complete;
• requesting evidence; and
• filing the cost and job details.

For one job, that may be manageable. Across several properties and several trades, it becomes a recurring administrative function.

360 Maintenance offers more than access to a tradesperson. It offers a repeatable local process for dealing with the maintenance workload. That is the more relevant value for a landlord.

Final verdict: 360 Maintenance is the better choice for Peterborough landlords

Checkatrade is useful if your objective is to search for a tradesperson.

360 Maintenance is better if your objective is to keep rental properties maintained with fewer separate contractors, fewer repeated explanations and more consistent records.

For landlords, letting agents and HMO operators in Peterborough and nearby areas, the advantages are clear:

• one local company;
• multiple property-maintenance services;
• direct communication;
• coordination across connected jobs;
• tenant and access support where agreed;
• before-and-after photographs;
• written job summaries;
• monthly charge records; and
• continuity across repeat and portfolio work.

Checkatrade can help you look for someone. 360 Maintenance gives you one company to call when the property needs work. For an active landlord, that is the better solution.

Property maintenance for landlords in Peterborough

360 Maintenance supports landlords, letting agents and HMO operators with recurring and one-off property work, including:

• general repairs and handyman work;
• plumbing;
• electrical work and EICR testing through qualified trades;
• gas safety certificates through qualified trades;
• painting and decorating;
• lock changes;
• rubbish removal;
• void and end-of-tenancy works; and
• property-ready repairs.

For a quote, send a clear job list, photographs and the property postcode.

• Call: 07766 184141
• WhatsApp: 07383 512577
• Email: contact@360fix.uk

Frequently asked questions