Location still the key

Professional landlords are always looking for ways to improve business and at a time when the rental sector is strong many will be looking to invest their improved earnings back into their empire. Expanding portfolios and getting improved deals on business property insurance can both lead to increased profitability but there are other ways that a landlord can stay one step ahead of the game.

Tenant demand set to soar

Many factors have combined over the last two years to put residential and commercial landlords in a better position than for a long time. The current state of the housing market and to a lesser extent the job market is leading some experts to predict that the UK could, over the next generation, become a nation of tenants rather than homeowners. If that is the case then professional landlords should be looking at their position in the sector now.

New requirements

Many tenants of course are students and many others particularly in the urban areas are young professionals, both groups are readily recognised as users of modern technology and especially with the advances in media outlets. The old property adage of location, location, location is more apt than ever for landlords, but in a slightly different way. Not only will tenants of the future want a location close to a place of work, learning, or transport, they will require a location where the access to mobile and broadband networks is at its best.

High speed broadband and mobile will attract tenants

BT this week announced that it plans to extend the coverage of high speed broadband to 80% of the UK’s population. The company intends that 4 out of 5 users will have the capability of speeds up to 20Mbps. This will appeal to a broad spectrum of prospective tenants not only in the residential sector but even more so in the commercial sector. The same applies to the mobile network, tenants often don’t bother with landlines anymore and so rely on a mobile signal that is strong and steady, a property in such an area will be attractive to a large number of home seekers.

It is possible that landlords may find they have to spend more time studying the maps of broadband and mobile phone accessibility than they do studying homeowners insurance rates if they want to own properties that will give them an edge in the market.