What tenants want… Ready Rentals helps landlords meet tenants’ transparency demands
- New essential landlord service, Ready Rentals, reveals what landlords should be doing to step up to the mark
- 54% of tenants claim transparency is most important in relationship with landlord (‘The Tenant Survey 2014’, Knight Frank)
- Ready Rentals provides all documentation and support needed to keep tenants happy
With the buy-to-let market celebrating its 18th birthday since its inception in 1996, this year sees more people than ever renting property privately, overtaking those forming part of the social housing market.
And yet it is not just the numbers that have evolved in that time. What people expect from their rental property, and in turn their landlord, has also changed over the years. In light of the release of Knight Frank’s ‘The Tenant Survey 2014’, drawing into focus what is important in the sector today, new essential landlord service, Ready Rentals, has responded with what landlords should be doing to step up to the mark in 2014 and beyond.
The Knight Frank survey of over 3,500 tenants across the UK, one of the largest ever undertaken in the industry, investigated what is wanted from a lettings agent, with those renting claiming that transparency is most important, with clarity over charges and deposit costs being of vital importance (54% of those surveyed put this top of their wish-list).
Whilst the government-backed tenancy deposit scheme offers legal protection for the money tenants put down, Ready Rentals– an online support system for private landlords that ensures they provide a professional and legally compliant service – takes this important notion further, by supporting landlords with the often daunting paperwork and the setting up of rental agreements. The system offers automated creation of all the documentation needed including tenancy agreements and notices, directly addressing the need of tenants to feel secure and reassured.
Neil Woodhead, Founder of Ready Rentals, explains the importance of this,
“Private landlords come in all guises – they may have purchased property specifically with the aim of renting it out as a business venture; they may have inherited a home that they do not wish to sell for all manner of reasons thus becoming an accidental landlord; they may be waiting for the right market or personal circumstances in which to sell and desire to make a return in the meantime, a temporary landlord.
“Yet whatever the reason someone becomes a private landlord, it is essential they ensure that they are transparent in all they do in relation to their tenants, Tenants need to feel that everything is covered, seamlessly, and that they are not being taken advantage of and engendering a good relationship between landlord and tenant will be mutually beneficial in the long-term.”
Given the fact that the Survey also points to affordability as being the key factor for tenants when choosing a rental property (65% of those surveyed put this as their priority), Ready Rentals has recognised that private landlords must consider the positioning of their property within the market, so that they are balancing profitability with affordability, and that this is kept a check of along the way.
Ready Rentals has responded with the provision of an income / expenditure log, taking into account how much is being spent on the property and in turn how much is being made, whilst advising that, alongside, landlords monitor the local property market for trends of deterioration and fluctuation.
Interestingly The Tenant Survey 2014 also revealed a move towards longer-term renting with 32% liking the flexibility that renting provides and a growing number unable to afford to buy, 36% said they would be renting for over two years.
Within this context, an important facet for landlords to contemplate, how to sustain the satisfaction of tenants over an extended period of time, is also addressed by Ready Rentals, by ensuring that landlords are up-to-date with changing legislative demands. Providing instant access to all the statutory regulations that they must meet, which – especially long-term – can seem to be continually evolving, Ready Rentals offers much-needed support to all landlords when facing this often confusing minefield.
As Tim Hyatt, Head of Residential Lettings at Knight Frank explains, the future success of the industry hinges on just this thorough approach by landlords,
“The rising significance of the private rented sector is creating many opportunities for investors, especially as we are starting to see the advent of large-scale professional landlords. In order to make the right investment decisions, finding out what tenants want and need is crucial.”
Ready Rentals is central to this success, affordable and accessible, it addresses these and many other issues faced by private landlords, and in turn their tenants, ensuring that the service provided is legally compliant and seamless, and in turn profitable and hassle-free for those renting out properties.
For more information about Ready Rentals visit www.readyrentals.co.uk or call 0141 212 9120.