Category: prs

New research has been released this week highlighting that renters are also in favour of extended tenancy lengths.

Due to the uncertainty that the pandemic has offered up over the last year and a half, it is clear to see that most landlords and tenants could benefit from this change.

Tenants surveyed

The research comes courtesy of a survey commissioned by Ascend Properties, a UK based estate agent.

Surveying over 1,100 tenants, they have found that 93% of those asked think that tenancies longer than 12 months should be an option.

81% of those questioned pointed towards the pandemic and the resulting rental market turbulence would make them more likely to rent a property for longer.

Ged McPartlin, Managing Director of Ascend Properties, commented:

"The ability to rent the same home for a far longer period of time is an integral part of this lifestyle shift and it’s clear that it not only offers a greater sense of security but also the opportunity to lay strong roots within a particular area without having to opt for the route of homeownership.

"Whether the government will do more to offer long term tenancies across the board remains to be seen...”

Longer tenancies

There are many driving factors behind the increase in support for longer tenancies.

One of the largest is the security they provide. For tenants, this means they are not asked to uproot at the end of the year, and for landlords, this means they do not have to find a new tenant to inhabit their property.

Another reason that is cited is ‘wider lifestyle’. This refers to offering tenants, when agreed upon with landlords, the opportunity to make their rental property feel more like home. These small changes for comfort are often overlooked, if the tenant and landlord doesn’t feel that it is a long-term arrangement.

These longer agreements also offer greater ability to plan for the future, for both tenants and landlords.

Landlord response

The common theme when this data is presented to landlords is one of approval.

Though there will always be concerns about the ability to protect their livelihood from tenants unable to keep up with the rent, most welcome tenants staying for longer than 12 months.

It has been suggested that a shorter trial tenancy could be used to assess if tenant and landlord are a good match, before committing to longer agreements. This could resolve any areas for concern on either side.

Other landlords have suggested that longer tenancies could come with a larger deposit, to ensure their income is protected enough, however, such a large upfront cost could put this proposition out of reach to many tenants.

It certainly will be interesting to see if the government decides to encourage the use of these longer tenancies, especially with support from both renters and landlords in the PRS.