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Plus, many people that rent properties are looking for a home for the long-term, so their needs have evolved and changed over time.

A survey carried out at the start of 2020 (Source: Letting Agent Today) showed that tenants cited high-speed Broadband, modern kitchen/bathroom and allocated parking, as the top three essential requirements when renting an apartment. The same applied to people renting houses; the only difference was with parking being off-street as opposed to allocated.

It is interesting to note that as well as these essential requirements tenants expect the following as a pre-requisite and landlords need to make sure that if they want to attract good quality tenants, these should be considered:

• A clean and well-looked after property. Having a modernised kitchen/bathroom can make the property even more sought after.
• Location is critical and depending on the type of tenants you are targeting; you need to make sure that the location is going to be attractive to your target demographic, e.g. city centre location for young professionals and students, as opposed to suburbs for families.
• Tenants are more aware of safety issues and have higher expectations than previously. By complying to the safety legislation landlords not only help safeguard their tenants but will also find that their properties are more in demand. Legislation such as the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, Electrical Safety Regulations 2020 and have Energy Performance Certificates (2018) are all essential.
• For some tenants being able to have pets in the property is very important. Providing a pet clause is inserted within the tenancy agreement; we would encourage landlords to consider tenant applications with pets. We do find that tenants who own pets do tend to rent longer term, which would be positive for a lot of landlords.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, many of us have had to change how we work and also have spent more time at home then we would normally do. Priorities have changed for over a quarter of tenants following the pandemic, according to The Property Academy Tenant Survey 2020. (Source: Dataloft, Property Academy)

• The Survey, based on 14,000 tenants, found that over two-thirds of tenants said affordability (68%) and a garden (67%) had become more important than they were pre-lockdown.
• With the government encouraging working from home, it is no surprise that 63% of tenants said broadband speed was more important, and 61% said space to work from home was more important.
• Landlords should consider renters priorities, for example; assisting access to fast Broadband, providing office furniture for furnished properties, and assessing rental values could help keep tenants happy.

The more up to date survey by Dataloft shows that Broadband is becoming a fourth utility and an essential requirement for all tenants, also the faster the Broadband, the better.

Our Director, Adam Kingswood comments ”Tenants expectations are definitely increasing which helps keep up the standards of rented properties. For example, gardens or yards can often be improved to make them more attractive on a low budget by simple tidying and painting of fencing or masonry (brickworks or stone). Many rental properties are older houses with smaller gardens or yards but we have some great examples of improvements without significant work or cost.

We are specialists in the letting, management and investment of residential properties in Nottinghamshire, so if you are a landlord or property investor contact us by calling 0115 704 3163 (Nottingham) or 01623 277115 (Mansfield). Alternatively, you can email us via our contact us page – £0click here.

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