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

dotchas

We have a tenant who has lived in our BTL flat for 10 years.
Things we have done that may have encouraged him to stay

Reduced his rent by a small amount for a time when he was temporarily out of work.

Not increased his rent in the 10 years as we do not want to lose him.

Allowed him to decorate,we pay for the paint and he decorates.

Promptly dealt with any repair issues including floods from washing machine.


Things that he has done to make us want him to stay

Always very helpful in arranging GSC visits, repairs etc (while I appreciate tenants have a right to peaceful enjoyment, repairs etc do have to be done and cooperation/communication is vital)

Keeps the flat immaculate, we no longer do inspections (its cleaner and tidier than my house!)

Has sorted out a new washing machine when it went fut when we were on holiday, we reimbursed him on our return.

Pays on time every month without fail in 10 years

KateLiana27

Be nice and treat your tenants with respect. It's often not what the landlord does or says, but the way they do or say it. Start from the assumption that your tenant is a decent person in a mutually beneficial business agreement, not a being from the lesser classes trying to scam you. Most aren't.

Get the attitude right and the rest will follow.

jimjames

KateLiana27 wrote: »

Be nice and treat your tenants with respect. It's often not what the landlord does or says, but the way they do or say it. Start from the assumption that your tenant is a decent person in a mutually beneficial business agreement, not a being from the lesser classes trying to scam you. Most aren't.

Get the attitude right and the rest will follow.

Completely agree.

We have bought a place with tenants in mind. The aim is that because they have been involved in the selection to a certain degree that they are planning on staying long term. Of course nothing is certain but that is the plan at the moment and if it works out then that will be just perfect. It also helped getting a tenants view of which property would be good for them as rental.

Tiddlywinks

N79 wrote: »

How does a longer lease with break clauses indicate this over a series of shorter leases as the security of tenure is the same in both cases?

A longer lease period indicates a LL with a long term business plan BUT, as life is never really predictable, the break clauses still allow the tenant or LL to end the agreement early.

It's OK as a tenant to covet a, let's say, 7 year lease with no break clause but in reality what would happen if they had a change in circumstance such as ill health, divorce, marriage, new job, loss of job etc?

LauraFox

I 've been renting for 12 years, have moved 7 times, usually due to personal circumstances, i.e needed smaller place, then when baby came needed bigger place, and so on, but some LLs really got on my nerves.

In response to your question

a) NO AGENT!!! they re useless and lie a lot because they re piggy in the middle. Plus renewal fees. If you trust your tenant, ditch the agent. Often EA only makes matters worse.

b) as said above, be friendly and not very business-like. Some LL dont want to be friendly AT ALL because in the back of their head they EXPECT that the tenant will cause trouble at some point and dont want to compromise their position. Why not give the benefit of the doubt???? If suspicious, why allow this guy to rent your property in the first place???
c) If you say you ll do something, stick to your word.

franklee

1. Competitive rent, recognising that a good long term tenant saves the landlord money and time, so share that saving between landlord and tenant. Know how much you'd need to increase the rent to compensate for a months void. Know what evicting a troublesome tenant costs.

2. Repairs attended to promptly, without the delays for penny pinching shopping around to get the cheapest, yet most hassle for the tenant, deal. For example by yet again waiting weeks for an out of stock and hard to source spare part for a clapped out boiler leaving the tenant with no hot water or heating regardless of how many of you lived in a paper bag when you were nippers. Don't become a landlord if you can't afford it.

3. Remember tenants are the landlord's customer paying over a lot of money so treat them as individual people with some respect and not as a annoyance tolerated to pay the mortgage or until an overpriced property can be sold. In particular remember that during the tenancy it is the tenant's home. Leave the tenant in peace. Inspections are fine but have the flexibility to make an appointment that suits both sides.

4. Awareness of the law and landlord's responsibilities. Gas safety etc.

5. Avoiding unfair contract terms as set out in OFT356.

6. Get a BTL mortgage or consent to let.

I wouldn't want any gifts like wine, I buy my own and besides it's a business arrangement, a few quid for a bottle of wine is negligible. Being treated with courtesy and a competitive rent is worth far more.

So far I've gone through agents mainly as in this area it's very hard to find direct lets. As I am picky which agents I'll approach I've (touch wood) had positive experiences so far.

I think if choosing an agent the landlord should look at them from the tenant's point of view as well as his own as that will determine the standard and number of tenants they attract. For example the worst agent in this area always has loads of lovely properties advertised for rent but no matter how lovely the property many tenants won't touch them with a bargepole so they take longer to let. Why landlords choose such agents I do not know, perhaps they promise higher rent or that they load the tenant with charges rather than the landlord? However if the landlord did the sums on the fees the agent charges the tenant they would see that their property isn't competitively priced and voids cost money.

I've had good experiences with small but not tiny agents that are local so they are large enough to have decent staff yet small enough so all their customers count. I'd not say they are super efficient but with the correct nagging they suffice. Each time I paid 100 to sign up and no renewal fees, their fully managed charge to the landlord is 12%. An agent like that can really help a tenant as they can intervene when if landlord doesn't quite get their responsibilities.

N79

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

A longer lease period indicates a LL with a long term business plan BUT, as life is never really predictable, the break clauses still allow the tenant or LL to end the agreement early.

I disagree, although only have anecdote and not hard evidence to prove it. However, in my experience most "professional" LLs (those for whom it is their main business) just run their tenancies as periodics long term as it avoids the hassle of signing new agreements each 6 months or a year. Such LLs don't bother with messing Ts around as, by definition, we are in it for the long run.

Further, if it would attract Ts, what would stop a LL who only wanted to let for 6 months offering a 2 year lease with a break clause and then immediately exercising the clause?

So I still don't see how the length of the tenancy makes any real difference.

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

It's OK as a tenant to covet a, let's say, 7 year lease with no break clause but in reality what would happen if they had a change in circumstance such as ill health, divorce, marriage, new job, loss of job etc?

The problem you have is that a 7 year lease is not really possible for boring legal reasons. Any lease above 3 years really needs to be set up by someone competent, ie for most using a solicitor, also for boring legal reasons. Given the aversion to agents costs on here I don't know if Ts would be willing to pay these legal costs.

jjlandlord

N79 wrote: »

I disagree, although only have anecdote and not hard evidence to prove it. However, in my experience most "professional" LLs (those for whom it is their main business) just run their tenancies as periodics long term as it avoids the hassle of signing new agreements each 6 months or a year. Such LLs don't bother with messing Ts around as, by definition, we are in it for the long run.

Fully agree.
This business of "renewing" fixed term has no real advantage for a landlord, it is mostly pushed by agents because they charge for it.

N79 wrote: »

Any lease above 3 years really needs to be set up by someone competent, ie for most using a solicitor, also for boring legal reasons.

It just needs to be executed as Deed.

CCP

I've been in my current rented place for nearly three years and intend to stay here for the foreseeable future, until I'm in a position to buy my own place. This is the first place I've rented where I've been happy to stay so long and I guess the key reasons are:

1) A LL who is involved with the property and doesn't just hand everything over to the LA.*

2) I've been made to feel that this is my home: I can do pretty much what I like - own pets, decorate, plant things in the garden - without having to beg for permission. (And with a donation from the LL, via reduced rent, for the costs of redecorating. )

3) Repairs are generally done when needed and without suggesting that I'm being utterly unreasonable for reporting something as broken. (In contrast to a previous LL who responded to my report of tiles falling off the roof on to the balcony with 'well don't go out there then'. :mad:)

* My LL works for the LA - an unusual arrangement but one that works quite well as I always know how to get hold of the LL, and he always knows what's going on with his property. Previously I would have agreed with the 'LAs are useless' POV but this lot aren't bad - if totally incapable of returning phone calls - possibly because the LL is there and knows if things aren't being done properly.

HTH, OP.

silverchair

1) No rent increase
2) Prompt repair, even better having British Gas Homecare & giving us the number for it & allowing us to phone BG if anything went wrong (plumbing, heating etc) so we can get it fixed directly & then keep the Landlord in the loop. I really valued this.
3)Visits at a minimum & if they are being done do it in a friendly way. Our landlord did this & it meant that they found out that the management company weren't doing what they were paid to do
4) Dont have a letting agent involved. They muck people about, get things wrong & then try & screw both landlord & tenents out of money. Absolutely rubbish