New landlord survey highlights advantages of being a tenant

rented accommodation is representing increasingly good value for money, according to new findings.

Research published by AA Home Membership has revealed that British landlords are being extra diligent about repairing their properties than previously thought. One in five landlords in the UK have returned early from a holiday to help tenants, while 16 per cent have left a wedding or another special event, new research shows.

Some seven out of ten say they've completely changed their plans in the past year to go and help out a tenant with a household repair, while on average, landlords have had to visit their property three times in the past year to carry out repairs which cost an average of £296.81.

Commenting on the results of the study, Helen Brooker, head of AA Home Membership, said: "Being a landlord is time-consuming, especially as they're on call 24 hours a day. Landlords often get a bad reputation for not helping out their tenants when they're needed, but our research shows that's often not the case."

The findings help to shed light on some of the advantages of renting a property. Whereas landlords and homeowners have most of the responsibility and are forced to foot the bill if something breaks down or is in need of the repair; tenants are able to rest assured that should something go wrong, their landlord will be able to help them out.

Ms Booker added: "Only a third of the landlords we polled use a lettings agent. That means that there are a lot of landlords out there who are the first port of call when their tenant has a problem. Giving tenants a list of other contacts, possibly a family member or tradesmen that you have a good relationship with could be handy. It'll probably help your relationship with your tenants too."

Published 28th January, 2014

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