Tenants : A new research by online letting agent MakeUrMove found that one in three property investors from Yorkshire are debating selling their rental properties due to issues related to unpaid rent and damage to buildings and fittings.
“More than half of landlords in Yorkshire are classed as ‘accidental’ or ‘casual’, meaning they only have one property and rent it out to supplement their main working income. As these landlords make-up the backbone of the British property market, it’s important they feel happy to carry on letting. Stress and financial pressures caused by ‘challenging’ tenants is a sure fire way to put them off and steer them away from further investment,” said Alexandra Morris on behalf of MakeUrMove.
Out of all respondents, 48% of landlords in the region had issues with tenants who failed to get their rent in on time, while 20% of them faced large bills when tenants left their properties in a state of despair, with one landlord being forced to pay a repair bill that totalled £16,000.
Other issues were also mentioned in the survey, one significant one being tenants who break items and refuse to pay for them, a problem 22% of landlords had encountered at least once. Tenants who refused to leave at the end of their tenancy were an issue for 16% of respondents, while 14% of them saw people who were not on the tenant agreement living in the property.
Tenants : “This could also be a real worry for smaller landlords when it comes to cash flow. Generally, as long as the rent is coming in every month to cover mortgages and other associated costs, smaller ‘casual’ landlords don’t often plan for bigger costs caused by damage from tenants or lack of funds due to unpaid rent. As a result, when a big outlay comes around, some landlords find themselves in trouble and there’s very little protection offered from the Government against these things,” continued Alexandra.
