A survey has found that the two most common secrets that UK tenants keep from their landlords are, the reasons why they are avoiding or late with paying their rent and having pet in their homes without asking their permission.

The poll reveals that 63% had made attempts at not paying their rent, 45% had kept pets without telling their landlords. Another common “secret” was that tenants had damaged walls by hammering in nails, these were amongst many others that were revealed in the research carried out by an online lettings agent.

Tenants are of course no different to some homeowners, as 25% confessed to not bothering to clean the oven…or  had very rarely done so. Less than one in five tenants cut the grass regularly, 11% "fly tipped" rubbish at the front of the house and 6% had on occasions sub-let a room.

There were low instances of major damage reported, with 4% owning up to burning holes in carpets and floor coverings….and hidden them under strategically placed mats.

Jane Morris the company’s managing director said:  “Our research shows that large numbers of tenants have made excuses to avoid paying the rent, which is worrying. The latest industry figures show that tent arrears are on the rise again, up by 7.2% in 2014, an increase of 4,600 tenancies compared to the same quarter in 2013,"

Morris explained that for landlords to protect themselves from late and potential non payment of rents, they should thoroughly check out all of the potential tenant's references and said: “These background checks on tenants are so important. Picking the right tenant can save a long, costly eviction process further down the line,

 

"Landlords need to be thorough in conducting background checks and reference gathering, including bank statements for the past three months, previous landlord references to check the tenant paid rent on time, credit checks, incorporating fraud indicators and employer references. It’s important to also check identity and proof of current address, ideally tax or insurance documents, and talk at length to a prospective tenant,".

Morris also strongly advises all landlords to be diligent and make sure that they hold regular property checks throughout any tenancy. This way problems could be nipped in the bud and could also mean that any damage could be brought to light sooner, rather than being missed at the end of a tenancy, saving landlords many hundreds of pounds.