"I love being a landlord and I don't think I'll ever stop!" Sian's Story
Sian has been a landlord since 2001 and owns and manages 17 properties across three buildings in West Didsbury, South Manchester. She initially started renting her properties out so that she could earn an extra income.
Her portfolio is designed for and aimed at professionals in the 25-35 age bracket. Over her years as a landlord, Sian has realised she loves creating safe, welcoming buildings for young people just starting out in their careers.
She speaks extremely highly of her experience as a landlord and says:
“I am hugely enthusiastic about what we do. Our buildings are attractive and friendly, and are a home from home for young people to live and make the big move of moving away from family so they can focus on their careers. We often have parents attending flat viewings, and they always go away happy about the place their son or daughter is moving into. Several have saved up for house deposits whilst here which is just brilliant.
“We have relatively transitional apartments due to their size, but increasingly tenants are staying put and we have couple of tenants who’ve been with us six years now. We always try to maintain a great relationship throughout and after tenancies, staying in contact and in some case friends with those who leave.”
Sian’s flats are based in three adjoining buildings, which has created a small, close-knit community which tenants benefit from.
Extra support during the pandemic
Sian expressed that during lockdown it felt important that she keep an eye on her tenants’ health and their mental wellbeing, as all were living alone and working from home for the first time.
She set up a group on WhatsApp to encourage tenants to check in on one another during the pandemic, which helped everyone feel as though they were not alone. Regular messaging encouraged friendships to develop between the tenants and the contact kept people’s spirits up.
The attractive communal garden and seating gave tenants access to outside space which was so critical for her tenants mental health. She is currently encouraging her tenants to grow their own fruits, vegetables and plants in the space by planting tomatoes, beans and herbs.
Sian continued and said: “We even had a cookery competition – each tenant received fresh pasta, risotto and truffle sauce and we challenged them to create something delicious and post a picture of it. It’s the kind of thing which I felt was important to do to prevent loneliness from setting in amongst tenants during the various lockdowns. One funny Lockdown moment was when one of the tenants won their workplace’s Zoom Backdrop of the Year for the botanical wallpaper we’d hung!”
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