With many people renting long-term in the London area, tenants will be increasingly looking for somewhere to call home, and as a result are becoming choosier about where they lay down their roots and are wanting to stay-put for longer.
With this in mind, the way a rental property is presented is more important than ever.
So, whether you’ve years of lettings experience or you’re taking your first steps into the world of rentals, we’ve got some simple tips to help attract and keep a long-term tenant, and how to make there (and your!) experience a good one.
Our experienced property management team can help and advise when it comes to renting out your property, and we help take the stress out dealing with tenants and looking after it, but there are ways that you can help give us a good head start when it comes to doing this.
Help them make their mark
While it’s tempting to decorate to your own personal tastes, to keep a long term tenant, they will want to make your house their home. Therefore, a blank canvas to work with is attractive to many potential tenants, so we always say that neutral colours are a good idea. This includes walls, flooring and curtains (if provided).
Giving your tenant more freedom to make changes can give many people the wobbles, with nightmare visions of inexperienced DIY enthusiasts taking hammers and drills to your freshly plastered walls. But it doesn’t need to be this way.
Why not consider erecting your own picture hooks around the property, putting up easy to remove (and store) curtains and including enough storage and shelving that the temptation of flouting the tenancy agreement, to personalise the space too much, is minimised?
Make it easy to live in
It’s one thing to make a house look nice, but is it actually comfortable to live in on a day-to-day basis? Simple things can make or break a tenant’s rental experience and prevent them from staying in the property long-term.
Make sure you’ve fully assessed what it’s like to live in your property. What’s the temperature like? Would it benefit from thicker carpets for added warmth or wooden floors to keep it cool?
What’s the lighting like, at night, in the bedrooms? A poorly placed street lamp or neighbour’s security light can mean a horrible night’s sleep. Consider putting up some good quality blackout blinds, or letting the tenants provide their own.
As we’re talking lighting, putting up your own security light can give peace of mind to tenants, especially families or people living on their own.
Pets or no pets?
Think about the possibility of accepting pets in order to keep a long term tenant. Before you completely dismiss the idea, you’d be surprised how many people we have come to us looking for a property to rent but are struggling to find a place that will accept their furry friends.
If you’re still worried, consider adding a clause to the tenancy agreement that asks pet owners to pay for a professional, specialist deep clean when they leave, or to pay for any damage to furnishings.
By allowing pets, you could open yourself up to a much wider market and take on some fantastic tenants that, because they have a cat or a dog, wouldn’t otherwise be able to find somewhere to rent.
Provide the goods
A lot of new tenants don’t own any white goods, and may not be able to afford all new ones, so the option to rent somewhere with a fridge, dishwasher and washing machine is always more desirable. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but opting for the best you can afford, with good energy ratings, could clinch a deal when it comes to your already attractive rental property.
