What should Landlords do to encourage Tenants to stay longer??

theartfullodger

There was a short discussion elsewhere on this question:

Clearly a Landlord who can avoid "voids" (gaps between tenants with no rent) and the costs of finding/checking etc etc etc a new/old tenant will save money & aggro..

What suggestions please (all welcome... ) from tenants as to the top 3 things you'd welcome from Landlords that would encourage you to stay longer??

Cheers and thanks in advance!

Artful

somethingcorporate

1) No rent increases
2) freedom to decorate as see fit
3) dealing quickly with issues / queries

My thoughts.

BitterAndTwisted

A half-decent heating/hot-water system.

Getting maintenance and repairs done without a fight.

Not popping round every five minutes with no warning.

somethingcorporate

A bottle of wine at Christmas, just to remind them you haven't forgotten they are human?

Brallaqueen

Depends on the sector - some tenants are arguably more 'captive' than others due to the low chances of finding alternative accommodation (LHA, low income, those with IVAs etc) and landlords may not need to do much.

Some tenants are highly mobile - students seem to change houses every year regardless of property standard and LL efforts.

daisygrabber

We(as a LL) reduced the rent by £50 a month when one half of the couple lost their job plus the insulation in the house not as good as we had thought so this was sort of compensation for thier higher than expected bills (we did sort the insulation out).

Offered tenants commission to find next suitable tenants (they didn't in the end but they liked the idea of the offer & we parted on good terms)

With current tenants we have been flexible on pets, DIY (LOL), decorating etc on the condition that it is all restored on departure if we don't like it (so far they have moved a fence & decorated a room, both of which have been done to a fabulous standard).

Generally on friendly terms, try to give as much notice & flexibility as poosible for inspections, workmen visits, etc & buy small Christmas presents and baby-being-born presents :-)

I agree that as a LL I want to keep any lovely tenants forever!

lizzywig

A good relationship is key. My LL did unreasonable things when I was renting and I knew my rights, this did not go down well and we ended up with a bad relationship. It caused huge amounts of stress and so I moved out.

Brallaqueen

I think this is where even the best agents do landlords a disservice - the middleman with an eye for profit from both sides is never going to cultivate a relationship with tenants the same way that a landlord would. A high turnover equials more profit for them in letting fees, reference fees and so on.

TimBear

No renewal fees!

We're in a landlord-managed property but through a letting agent, so perhaps the renewal fee comes direct from the letting agent, but we pulled out of a lease for a house purely because when including the renewal fee (something like £70 each six months) the cost of the house was too high!

lincroft1710

Reduce the rent.

G_M

Just to go off on a slight tangent: what are tenants' views on agents?

Do you prefer renting via a letting agent or direct from a landlord?

Comments in posts above have suggested agents focus on fees (esp renewal fees) rather than good relations, but some tenants are suspicious of 'amateur' DIY landlords.

And who is easier to contact for repairs? An agent or a LL?