With so much publicity in recent months about the activities of rogue landlords around the UK, Saga Home Insurance decided to find out whether the UK’s landlords are ethical.
Their findings will not come as a surprise to the majority of landlords with rental properties since most tenants (77%) said their landlord was either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.
Just 8% of tenants said their landlord was ‘poor’.
The survey shows that landlords are not only ethical but reliable as well and their survey also looked into the cause of most complaints.
Landlords complain about tenants for the late payment of rent, 37%, another 32% complained of property damage and 20% said they were unhappy about tenants who left without giving notice.
Landlords ‘hard to reach’
When asked, tenants said that most common complaint was that landlords were hard to reach, 23%, and the use of substandard tradesman for carrying out repairs was a cause of complaint for 21% of tenants.
However, Saga also reveals a worrying statistic in that one in 10 landlords apparently does not pay a tenant’s deposit into a protected scheme.
The survey results have now led to the publication of a leaflet aimed at existing and new landlords in a bid to help them deliver a better service.
The leaflet highlights the best practices for a buy to let property and the firm says it hopes the sector will boost its ethical standing.
Saga’s head of home insurance, Sue Green, said: “In an age of escalating rents and housing shortages, landlords have been getting bad headlines and our research shows that this portrayal is unfair.
Most landlords and ethical and conscientious
“Most landlords and ethical and conscientious and our guide will help improve ethical credentials.”
She added, that it was crucial that landlords regularly ask themselves if they could do more for the tenant and for themselves.
West Midlands rents rise highest
Meanwhile, 59% of landlords with properties in the West Midlands have seen their rents grow in the last quarter, the highest recorded figure for all regions.
In comparison, just 22% of letting agents said rents have risen in London and the average for the UK is 32%, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
The survey also reveals that someone looking for a rental property is likely to be more successful in the East Midlands where letting agents have on average 272 properties for each branch. The UK average is 182.
The strongest demand for a rental property is in the north-west where agents are registering more new potential tenants with the lowest rate of sign-ups being seen in Scotland and the East Midlands.
