5th
Sep 2016
Increasing numbers of landlords are deciding to take matters into their own hands by not contracting agents to rent out and manage their rental properties.
A landlord Insurance company recently carried out a poll and claims that 65% of landlords carry out the majority of the maintenance of their property and are preferring to deal direct with the tenants, rather than through a third party.
The study also states that nearly a quarter of landlords (24%) just use an agent to provide tenants and then look after the property themselves, 41% find tenants and maintain the property themselves and 35% leave everything to an appointed agent.
10,000 addresses were analysed and it was discovered that 20% of landlords virtually live down the road from the property (one mile) that they rent out. A further 46% of landlords within one to ten miles proximity of their buy-to-let property which is a main factor of why they are taking responsibility of the duties.
The private rented sector has seen more landlords increasing their property portfolio over the past few years, however according to the research the majority of landlords still have just one property to rent out.
45% of landlords who took part in the poll said they had one property and 40% had between two and five rental properties, 15% claimed they had more than five properties which were being rented out.
The research claims 17% of landlords admitted to being ‘accidental landlords’ and 65% stated that they entered into the PRS as an investment. 9% bought a second property for a member of their family to live in e.g. a child attending university.
Alex Huntley of the insurance company said: “We are seeing an increasing trend of savvy landlords taking direct control of how their property is let and managed and becoming much more self-sufficient.
“While it can be easy to bash landlords as faceless investors, these results show they are more likely to be part of the community they invest in and take a personal interest in making sure their property is well maintained and tenancies are long-term.
“We are also seeing a growing demand from landlords to be able to manage their insurance policies online 24/7 and to buy flexible and scalable policies as their investments change and grow.”
News Archive »