Shockingly, a third of tenants expect to find and move into their new home in just two weeks. So when is the optimum time a landlord should put a property on the market?
A survey by The House Shop has found that 31.2% of tenants aim to move into a new rental property within two weeks of making an initial enquiry to the agent or landlord.
And two-thirds of renters (63.8%) set the time limit at one month from making the first enquiry to getting the keys – meaning landlords wanting to attract the most attention should put their properties on the market one month before they will become vacant to have the best chance of filling the property quickly.
Avoid the void
Void periods can be a costly issue for landlords – whenever a property sits empty, it is costing money. With the average UK rental value now around £909, according to the latest figures from October, it can make a significant dent on landlord earnings, so reducing or avoiding a vacancy is the key to getting the most out of a property investment.
The data from The House Shop also revealed a peak in interest from tenants looking for last-minute properties in September, probably due to student term times. This is another factor landlords could consider to get their properties occupied quickly.
Nick Marr, co-founder of The House Shop, said: “For the 1 in 3 tenants who are expecting to actually move into their new home less than two weeks after they first make contact with the landlord – they will need to ensure that they are responsive, organised and thoroughly prepared.”
“Leaving just two weeks to get from start to finish is definitely achievable, but leaves little wriggle room to handle delays,” he added.
Longer tenancies
In the Autumn Budget, chancellor Phillip Hammond revealed that there will be a consultation on incentives for landlords to offer longer tenancies.
Not only would this provide more security for tenants, as rules are tightened to ensure they are treated more fairly, it could also help landlords as they would have longer gaps between the hassle of finding new tenants – again potentially reducing the number of void periods.
Simon Heawood, chief executive officer of Bricklane, said: “Some forward-thinking landlords have been offering more stable tenancies for a while now and it is a great win-win as tenants get greater stability, enabling them to feel more at home, whilst our investors have the benefit of higher occupancy rates.”
