22nd
Feb 2017
Nowadays broadband is essential for the majority of the public for entertainment, work or study with reliability and pricing of the utmost importance to prospective tenants when considering a new place move into.
Three thousand Britons were included in a recent survey and surprisingly slow broadband in the evenings and at weekends was a major reason why tenants moved 'home'. Many who had moved because of poor broadband stated (48%) that if they had been aware of this then they would not have moved into the property.
The research also suggests that poor broadband may affect the rental value of a property as it may cause shorter tenancies and eventually if word gets around, make it harder to encourage quick uptake from prospective tenants.
The other major reasons that caused tenants to decide not to take a second renting term are bad mobile signal (36%) a lazy landlord (33%), rowdy neighbours (32%) and rail and road noise (26%).
34% of respondents said the information not readily available from an agent/website that would make their decision about renting a property, was broadband speed at 'peak' times. 28% wanted to know whether the landlords/agent had a history of not responding to issues about the property.
Steve Holford, chief customer officer at a full fibre provider, responsible for commissioning the research, said: “We are hitting one of the busiest times of the year for moving home, but ironically for many the speed of the market won’t be matched by the speed at which they can connect to the Internet when they get into a new property.
“The average property broadband speed that is given from a property website is basically misleading since it does not factor in how much a Fibre-to-the-Cabinet broadband service can reduce at peak times.
“It is time that the property sector woke up to the fact that broadband is not just a standard property amenity – it has the power to turn off a prospective renter and buyer altogether. Brits want and deserve to know how their broadband will perform at the time they need it most.”
A different piece of research from a comparison broadband website found that that many British adults rated internet speed and connection higher than the heating capabilities of the property. It reported that 76% stated that broadband is a must have utility, with 36% saying, rather dramatically, they could not live without the internet.
Young people between the ages of 18-24 were potentially more likely to grin and bear poor heating if the broadband was good, and just under a fifth of these (23%) were willing to have no heating for a week, with 15% even saying that they were quite prepared to go without warmth for a month, so long as the broadband speed was good.
Surprisingly those over 65 almost unanimously said that the internet is a necessity - 81%.
Ben Wilson, from the comparison website, said: “These figures highlight just how important the internet has become in our daily lives, with the majority of people now considering it an essential utility, like energy or water.”
He added: “The internet has quietly become a vital part in many people’s day-to-day lives and as such it’s now more important than ever to make sure you’re with the right provider at the right price."
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