Renting in the private rented sector is no longer a matter of choice for millions of tenants as sky-high house prices, the credit crunch and tighter mortgage lending rules have denied many of them a first foot on the property ladder.
Consequently, landlords now have a much wider range of tenants to deal with, but they're not always the easy-going, professional types that many hope for when they advertise their properties to let.
Most tenants are a joy to deal with but there is, unfortunately, a small but challenging and sometimes costly band who hoover up a landlord's time and money. Here's our light-hearted look at who to expect.
The entitled
There are tenants who confuse their landlord with their parents, expecting the same degree of support and hand-holding when they move into a rental property for the first time as they did while living at home. This can lead to some amusing discussions; For example, have you ever met the tenant who considers their rent to be a secondary financial concern to their annual holiday spend?
It’s a crime
Some tenants consider their rented home to be a criminal opportunity, but they can be difficult to spot however hard you reference them. Activities to watch out for include illegal subletting, which is very common among a surprisingly wide demographic of renters. One way to spot this is when prospective tenants who don’t appear that wealthy - such as students - want to rent large and expensive houses. Other activities to spot include homes being used for cannabis production and tenants who pretend to be the owners or their rented property and attempt mortgage fraud.
Art of noise
There are some tenants who have no inkling that their clomping, shouting, late night music playing, TV blaring and door slamming are all deeply vexatious for their neighbours, who invariably complain to the landlord when the noise won't stop. Such problems are why many landlords include anti-social behaviour clauses in their tenancy agreements. If a ‘quiet word’ with a noisy tenant doesn’t stop them, then breaching their tenancy agreement could be grounds for eviction.
Parent alert
It’s happened to most landlords at one point or another; turning up to let the new tenants in, only to find a parent staring at them suspiciously, worried that their offspring are going to be living in slum conditions run by a rogue landlord. Their worries are understandable given the plentiful media coverage of 'nightmare tenancies', but it can become almost comical when parents become the go-betweens on a permanent basis, firing off emails and phone calls about minor maintenance issues. It’s best to nip it in the bud early on. Say you’ll only deal with directly with the tenants.
Dishing the dirt
Dirt, one washing powder manufacturer once tried to suggest, is good. But not in rental properties; tenants need to be reminded that unless they clean up their act, consequences will follow. Leaving food around on the floor will encourage mice and ants; dust piles encourage moths and most importantly (for tenants) in general excess dirt may make moving out (and getting their deposit back) more difficult.
CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score
If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.
CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.
Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.
