Tenants give the thumbs-up (again) for independent landlords
Introduction
The first edition of Tenant Trends – a subscriber-based collaboration between the NRLA and Pegasus Insight – reconfirms the preference among PRS tenants for independent landlords who self-manage their properties.
Pegasus Insight delivered the fieldwork for this study earlier this year.
One key conclusion of the study is that that tenants who rent from independent landlords express higher levels of satisfaction than those renting through corporate landlords or letting agents.
About the study
Over 3,000 (3,018) rent paying tenants across England and Wales participated in the on-line study. The research compared the views of tenants who rented from one of three groups:
- Independent landlords
- Lettings agents
- Corporate landlords or company landlords (landlords either operating in the build to rent sector, or owners who let accomodation space above commercial/retail units).
Tenants stated, as part of the study, whether they would recommend to another prospective tenant (i) their current landlord and (ii) the property they presently rent.
Tenants gave their response on a scale of 0 – 10: A rating of 0 being "Not at all likely to recommend” and 10 being "Highly likely to recommend."
Tenants recommending their current landlord
Across England and Wales:
- Over one-in-three – 36% - of ALL tenants rated their landlord a score of 9 or 10.
- Conversely, just 7% of all private sector tenants gave their current landlord a score of 0, 1, or 2 out of 10.
Chart 1 below, splits the most recent results by the above landlord type.
Chart 1: Proportion of tenants giving their landlords a score of 9 or 10 out of ten
Tenants awarded the highest scores to independent landlords.
- In this survey of tenants, 43% of tenants renting from an independent landlord gave their landlord a score of 9 or 10 out of 10.
- This places independent landlords above both letting agents (where 29% of tenants awarded their landlord the same score) and corporate landlords (27%).
Note this is not an unusual result, but instead reflects a well-established pattern: Chart 2 below places these results in the context of previous tenant surveys (held every six months) commissioned by the NRLA.
Independent market research agencies undertook each of these studies. All agencies are members of the Market Research Society:
Chart 2: Tenant satisfaction over time
Tenants and the property they presently rent
When asked whether they would recommend the property they currently rent to another prospective tenant, then, once again, those who rent from independent landlords were more likely give the most positive response:
Figure 1 below shows the proportion of tenants who would highly recommend the property in which they presently live to another tenant.
(“Highly recommend” here means responding with a “9” or “10” out of 10 when asked to give the likelihood of recommending the property to another tenant.)
Figure 1: Do tenants recommend the property they rent?
As illustrated in figure 1 above, over a third of tenants (37%) renting from independent landlords (37%) gave a score of 9 or 10 out of 10:
- This is also notably higher than the 29% logging these scores for letting agents and 26% for corporate landlords.
The results provide further evidence of the positive perceptions of independent landlords held by tenants.
Why independent landlords consistently fare better than their counterparts
Key satisfaction drivers
The research also invited tenants to agree or disagree with a series of statements about their property and landlord. Chart 3 shows how tenants with independent landlords responded to these statements.
Across each of these statements, tenants with independent landlords were most likely to express positive responses:
Chart 3: Ratings across key satisfaction criteria
Without going through each of the key satisfaction metrics in Chart 3, independent landlords received the highest ratings in each of these statements from tenants compared to the scores awarded from renters of property supplied through from letting agents or the corporate sector.
Value for money
When asked whether they feel the rent they pay represents value for money, tenants from independent landlords were the only group where more than half of tenants rated value for money as either “quite” or “very good” (52%).
In comparison, 38% of tenants of properties let though letting agencies letting agents gave the equivalent rating. For tenants of corporate landlords, the proportion was 45%.
Rent flexibility
Previous tenant survey findings highlight differences between landlord type and the approach taken to rent increases. For example, in the Autumn of 2023, tenants renting from independent landlords were more likely to have never been issued a rent increase. In this study just over 40% (42%) of tenants with independent landlords had their rent increased over the previous twelve months, compared to 58% of other PRS tenants.
Note that there is no evidence to suggest the cause of the preference of independent landlords is a result of the attitude many landlords take to annual rent increases – as this paper demonstrates it is not just rent levels which explain the preference.
Summary
Once again, tenant research highlights independent landlords receive the most positive response compared to other landlords in the Private Rented Sector. Overall, tenants across the sector are highly satisfied with their landlord, and their property,
There is a perception of value for money, and an approachability to the independent landlord which is more likely to put a tenant at ease. There is also evidence of a tenant-centric approach to rent setting. These are all reasons which contribute to the independent landlord as being the preferred choice for many renters
Whether it is trust, property condition, or the feeling of truly being ‘at home’, tenants consistently rate independent landlords more highly than other landlords in the PRS. These findings – from tenants themselves - underscore the advantages independent landlords offer, which often lead to positive and lasting relationships with their tenants.
