Are Tenants and Landlords Actually in Perfect Harmony?
Often pitted against each other, recent research reveals that most tenants are actually happy with their landlord.
Tenants and landlords are usually portrayed as mortal enemies, constantly at loggerheads and always at odds. The reality is quite different, however. It’s just that ‘tenant likes landlord, and is happy with living conditions and service’ doesn’t lend itself to clickable headlines.
A new survey further underlines tenant satisfaction with their landlords, showing the relationship is anything but strained. Here, we take a closer look at the survey results and the positive dynamic between renters and landlords.
81% of tenants have no landlord issues
Comparative website Money took the pulse of 2,000 tenants (a relatively large number as far as these things go) to understand more about the landlord-tenant relationship. And it turns out that it’s largely positive.
An impressive 81% said they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their landlord, while only 10% said they were ‘unsatisfied’. Moreover, a little more than three-quarters of tenants had no complaints about their landlords, which shines a positive light on the rental market and indicates that landlords really care about providing their tenants with excellent service.
Maintenance magic
Delving further into the report and looking at why tenants were in good spirits regarding landlords, it’s clear that service plays a significant role.
- Around 79% of private tenants said their landlord listens to them when they raise a complaint, with almost half saying they usually wait no more than three days for a response
- This starkly contrasts with the 3% who said they need to wait over a month for a response
- Even better, 82% said repairs were completed within four weeks
- 26% said it only took one week for a landlord to resolve maintenance issues
Interesting age dynamics regarding deposits
Age seems to play an important role when it comes to deposits and getting the full amount back. 63% of people said they’ve lost some money out of their deposit during their time as a renter, with tenants aged between 18 to 24 the most likely group to have lost a deposit (74%).
Of those over 55, only 38% said they’d lost some deposit. Of all the people who lost some of their deposit, 15% said it had amounted to more than £500. Overall, 37% of those surveyed stated they didn’t lose any deposit money when renting a home.
Being a good landlord
The majority of landlords are good at what they do and value the tenant’s living experience in their property. Through good communication and the ability to address issues swiftly while being fair, landlords provide tenants with good service.
The report from Money underlines how tenants are actually satisfied with their landlords, helping to further combat the negative perception of landlord and tenant relationships.
It just shows that one or two negative stories in the press aren’t an indictment of the landlord community.
The full survey also includes information about the most expensive and affordable areas to rent in London and beyond.
