Properties rented to families take up the least amount of property management time when compared to other types of tenants, fresh research by the National Landlords Association (NLA) shows.
The findings come from more than 1,000 responses to the latest quarterly landlord research panel from the NLA, which asked them to estimate how much time they spent on property management, including dealing with tenant queries and property maintenance requests, and general business administration.
The study suggests that landlords who rent to families and young couples spend on average one full working day a week – eight hours – on property management.
In contrast, the NLA says landlords who let to migrant workers, benefit recipients, or who have executive lets, can expect to spend up to 12 hours per week.
Regionally, landlords in the North West of England spend almost twice as much time per week – 10 hours – managing their business than landlords with properties in the South East of England, where the average is five and a half hours.
The findings also reveal that buy-to-let landlords with mortgages spend on average three and a half hours extra per week on property management compared to those who are mortgage-free (eight and a half hours Vs five hours), while those with energy efficient properties (EPC rating of D or above) spend two hours less per week on property management.
Richard Lambert, CEO of the National Landlords Association, said: “This data reinforces the fact that families make good, reliable, and long-term tenants, but some landlords can be put off by the perceived risk of more damage or wear and tear to the property or its contents.
“However, if you’re properly maintaining the property then tenants will be more likely to stay for longer anyway, particularly families who typically seek more stability. This is just one more argument for establishing a proper maintenance schedule in the first place.
“Landlords who rent to migrant workers or provide executive lets may find it takes up more management time because there’s a greater churn of tenants which means re-marketing the property, drawing up tenancy agreements, and conducting property viewings more regularly.”
The NLA also says that another big cause for concern is that those in receipt of benefits take up more management time for landlords.
Lambert added: “The combination of welfare cuts and the introduction of Universal Credit make it difficult for some benefit recipients to keep up with rental payments and that often means taking more time for the landlord to manage. It’s frustrating for everyone because the issues can be outside the control of both tenants and landlords.”
