One of the hardest parts of being a landlord is making sure that your tenants are happy. Ensuring that they want to renew their contract or tolerate any rent hikes is fundamentally down to how happy they feel in your properties. Here are a few things to consider if you want to focus on keeping those contracts signed.

Chuck out old furniture

Moving into a house and finding that the sofa is more dog-eared than you’d first suspected and that the cupboard doors are about to come loose is always a huge letdown. If your inventory has noted these unsatisfactory problems with the furniture in your building, then it might be time to start swapping out some furniture. While soft furnishings will most likely need to be entirely replaced if they’re very worse for wear, hard furniture such as cupboards and tables might benefit from some renovation projects.

Update any tired rooms

Rooms where your tenants spend a lot of time will want to be as presentable as they can be, and keeping a house that’s still in good nick can be the difference between a tenant who renews their contract or packs up and looks elsewhere. Giving bedrooms, bathrooms and living spaces a bit of a makeover with paint (and maybe even some new curtains) will keep tenants wanting to stay around for longer. If you do find that your property is left unoccupied for longer than you would have hoped, then Landlord Insurance is an excellent option to keep you covered in the meantime. Let property insurance is essential for any landlord, regardless of how financially stable your income is.

 

Ask for any feedback or requests

The chances are that after a while you may have gone a bit blind to the service you’re running. If you haven’t heard from your tenants in a while, send them an email and ask them if they have any requests for the house (within reason) and how they’re getting on. While inventories are useful to keep track of who broke what, and what condition things are in, it’s good to make sure that you check how your tenants are getting on. Your last inventory might be a little out of date, and asking them if there’s anything that they need and if everything is running smoothly. However, it’s also advised that you don’t check on them too much as this can leave them feeling harassed.

Know your tenants’ rights

Increasingly tenants are looking up their rights when it comes to living under the rule of a landlord. The reason for this is they don’t want to feel exploited or cheated out of their money. There is a recent example of a particular right that people are coming to terms with: “The Right to Rent scheme, whereby landlords housing tenants that do not supply valid documents to satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Act 2014 now face up to £3,000 worth of fines per person.”

While keeping tenants happy is key to ensuring that you run a smooth business, it will also guarantee some good word of mouth. New customers can often come in the form of recommended friends and relatives. Even though you might need to hear some difficult feedback, it will be worth it in the long-run.