What Makes a Good Tenant?

Whether you are a first-time landlord or have been in the lettings industry for years, choosing the right tenant is always a tricky task. In fact, how to find a good tenant is one of the questions we are asked the most by prospective landlords, particularly people who are renting out their property for the first time.

As letting agents with many years of experience, our advice is that the key thing for landlords to think about is matching the tenant to their type of property and realising that there are pros and cons to every type of tenant.

Dawn Clarke, director of property management and lettings, says there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to choosing tenants - but there are some important factors to bear in mind.

“The key thing we talk to landlords about is matching the right tenant to their type of property,” she says.

Letting to Students

Some people automatically think that students will be messy and a professional couple make the ideal tenants, but from our experience that is not always the case. There are lots of positive points from renting out a property to students - they are usually good at paying rent on time for one thing, and often have parents on hand if they do get into any difficulties, for example.

Letting to Professional Couples

Professional couples do tend to look after a property well but can be difficult to keep as tenants because they will often see a rental property as a short-term commitment. The downside, therefore is that you may need to find new tenants on a regular basis.

Letting to Families

Families with young children can be viewed by some landlords as risky tenants because of the potential for mess or damage, but this is offset by a more long-term tenancy.

And in actual fact, many of our landlords find that families view their rental property very much as their own home so will look after it as such.

If the contract is clear about who looks after what, and you do your part as a landlord in looking after the property and making regular checks, there is no reason to worry unduly about your property.

Letting to the Elderly

We have landlords who favour renting their properties to elderly people. The upside is that older people often have a habit of being on time with their rental payments. Sadly, not all properties will be suitable for elderly people due to location or mobility of the prospective tenant.

Dawn says, "Of course There are pros and cons to all type of tenants. The most important thing is for a landlord and letting agent to have a good relationship with their tenant.  It’s also vital to match your property with a tenant to suit - an apartment in a city centre is far more likely to appeal to a professional couple than an elderly person living on their own, for example."

At the end of the day, Dawn advises potential landlords, "if you want a certain kind of tenant, make sure you invest in the right type of property.”

For more information and advice, contact Dawn and her team on 01952 290163.