Being a Family-Friendly Landlord – The UK rental market is changing, and its landlords need to keep up. Only 8% of British landlords are full-time professionals, and the majority of the rest own only one property. Many are ‘reluctant landlords’ – people who cannot sell their home but need to move, and so rent it out while they wait for the housing market to pick up. Compared to many parts of Europe, the private rental sector in the UK is informal and lightly regulated. That makes it flexible and easy for potential landlords to get into, but it can mean that families are not well-catered for.
Renting
Private renting has tended to be the preserve of young singles and couples, who would rent for a few years before getting on to the property ladder. With mortgages now hard to come by and large deposits needed, renting is becoming a long-term housing solution for more and more people. And that means that it is not just footloose twenty-something’s renting, but families who want stable, long-term tenancies and good quality accommodation.
Families
Many younger renters will move on quickly from property to property as their needs change, but families want to settle. For landlords, this can offer a great opportunity – by offering families the longer two or three year tenancies they need, landlords can get a guaranteed income with no worries about void periods. Families with long tenancies tend to make good tenants – they have good reason to keep the property clean and well-maintained, as it is their long-term home. They are not just passing through. Make sure you have landlords insurance in place so you can pay to repair damage.
To attract and hold on to those stable family tenants, landlords need to make sure they are meeting their needs. More than any other group, families need repairs to be done quickly and landlords to be responsive. In return, landlords get tenants who are likely to stay with them for many years. If you own a family-friendly property, it’s worth thinking about how you can market it to families. Mention good schools and parks nearby, and look at securing the garden so that children can play safely. A few simple alterations can help encourage the kind of responsible family tenants you want.