As a landlord, it’s important to understand what tenants want (and don’t want). To help with this process, a new survey has revealed the biggest property turn-offs for tenants, from the features that are missing from a property to the facilities that are present but are below standard to what they can’t stand about landlords.
The survey of 1,157 UK tenants has uncovered that tenants’ biggest bugbear has nothing to do with the property itself. In fact, the number one red flag for tenants when looking to rent a property is nuisance neighbours. As a landlord, there isn’t much you can do about this dislike apart from ensuring there is enough privacy and soundproofing to block the nuisance sights and sounds out and picking a time of day for viewings when the neighbours are likely to be out, so their cars aren’t blocking the drive or their presence isn’t off-putting.
While the government has announced plans to enable tenants to challenge a landlord’s blanket ban on pets, the law is not fully in force yet meaning tenants are yet to benefit. So, a rental property that prevents them from bringing their pet ranked as the second biggest turn-off.
A lack of parking was tenants’ next biggest issue when it comes to rental property appeal, while a lack of outdoor space also ranked within the top five.
Tenants also ranked rules that forbid them from redecorating or hanging pictures high on their dislikes, however, we can also understand these bans from a landlord’s point of view.
Other tenant dislikes included, no storage space, an outdated bathroom, no shower/bath only, an outdated kitchen and appliances, a ban on children, poor internet, the property not being inclusive of bills (which previous research found this feature topped tenants’ must-have lists) and finally unfurnished properties.
Landlord No-nos.
The tenants were also asked to rank their likes and dislikes regarding their landlords with UK’s tenants ranking a landlord’s inability to maintain a rental property to a modern standard as the most off-putting.
Property owners who fail to maintain safe living conditions were tenants’ second-worst dislike; this was followed by those that increase rents on a consistent basis.
The research also found that tenants also dislike landlords who visit the property regularly, as well as those that terminate a contract without good reason.
Jack Godby, Sales and Marketing Director at Ocasa, the specialist rental platform that conducted the research, commented: “The rental market can be a tough place to live at times and not only is it very expensive, but many tenants will be put off by out of date or unsafe living conditions, restrictive tenancy rules and the insecurity and uncertainty that often comes with living in someone else’s property.
However, standards are improving and the industry is undergoing notable changes that focus on renting as a long-term lifestyle choice, rather than a necessity due to the high cost of homeownership.
Of course, you may still fall foul of a nuisance neighbour but some things in life are unfortunately unavoidable.”
