Many of us spend years searching for the perfect match – house trained, steady job, correct age – the list goes on – and now new research has done the leg work for you – revealing the ideal tenant for your buy-to-let property…
According to a poll of 1,000 British landlords, the most desirable tenant in the UK is a female medical professional, aged between 36 and 45, living in London and earning between £20,000 and £30,000 a year.
The research, carried out by Halifax Landlord Insurance, found that more than three quarters of landlords polled preferred to rent to a female tenant as they considered women to be more trustworthy and less likely to damage their property.
Almost a quarter were more inclined to rent their house out to tenants from London and, flying in the face of traditional views of landlords, almost a third favoured tenants with a modest income of between £20,000 and £30,000, as opposed to those who were raking in more than £70,000.
When it came to age and career, (always important when choosing a match) a quarter of landlords were very keen to rent to a medical professional, such as a GP, nurse or carer.
The least favoured career for a prospective tenant to have was – can you guess – a heavy goods vehicle driver, closely followed by taxi drivers, traffic wardens and shop workers.
The vast majority also didn’t want to rent to those who were under the age of 25.
Senior Claims Manager for Halifax Landlord Insurance, Martyn Foulds said, “The research shows how particular landlords are about the types of people they rent to, and highlights how much they care about their property.
“We’d recommend landlords check the credentials of tenants prior to letting to them by asking for references, and it's also important to ensure they have the right type of buildings and contents insurance in place to protect their buy-to-let property,” added Mr Foulds.
Even a prospective tenant’s celebrity status wouldn’t necessarily ensure that they got the go ahead. A third of landlords polled would shut the door in Amy Winehouse’s face and Iceland queen Kerry Katona would suffer the same fate.
On the flipside, landlords would be keen to hand over the keys to new USA President Barack Obama and Daniel ‘007’ Craig. I’m going out on a limb here and betting a months rent that the landlords who were keen to rent to Daniel Craig were mostly female and suddenly felt far more inclined to fix that leaky shower.
Check out those tenants
The Lettings Protection Service found that more than 20 per cent of landlords allow tenants to move into their property after just one quick meeting.
This is despite reports that more than two thirds of landlords have had a bad experience with a previous tenant.
Amongst those with bad experiences, 71 per cent have been left out of pocket. Other negative tenant experiences include the 38 per cent of private landlords have had to involve the police or seek legal counsel at some point, and the 11 per cent who received threats to themselves or their family as a result of a rogue tenant.
If you are a landlord and want a bit more knowledge about your prospective tenant, check out www.lettingprotection.com and arrange a quick tenant check or a more in-depth full tenant reference.
Landlords can access a first online quick tenant reference to offer an instant rent guarantee, comprehensive reports on a tenant’s suitability, gas safety inspections and emergency breakdown insurance cover.
Kevin Firth of the LPS said, “It is absolutely critical to take as many precautions as possible before handing over keys to tenants.”
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-ENDS-
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