20,000 landlords surveyed – Only 47% happy to stay landlords
We surveyed 20,000 landlords that used Rentround in the past 6 months and the results are in!
Our survey aimed to capture insights on landlord behaviours, characteristics and their approach to picking letting agents.
The most revealing answers were in relation to landlords future plans in the rental game and their main worries.
53% of landlords wanted out or were unsure if they wanted to remain in the rental game. The reasons were
- Uncertainty around property prices post Covid-19
- Fears of future tax hikes on landlords
- Worries of rent defaults after furlough ends
Property prices around the country remain at all time records. However the much talked about property price ‘bubble’ the stamp duty break has created and when furlough ends, may impact property prices in a negative way, at least that’s what landlords are fearing.
Adding to the uncertainty of house prices are working from home conditions. Reported exoduses away from London & the big cities, and companies embracing working from home policies, many fear could mean property prices in these regions are going to dip.
In a male dominated landlord market (at 65%), wide differences were identified in the education levels of landlords. Landlords who left education and those who obtained A-Levels (or the equivalent) were tied in first place, with 28% each.
Letting agent fees, of which 44% of landlords stated is their biggest expense, landlords claim is the biggest factor when choosing an agent.
This was followed by the agents ability to quickly find tenants & fill void periods and to give a hands off, headache free landlord life.
28% of landlords gave some rest bite to the high street, claiming that’s their number 1 way to find an agent. While a close 27% claimed Google was their main way to find an agent.
39% of landlords state tenant find only services is what they want from an agent. While a whopping 30% stated guaranteed rent was the service they opt for or will be opting for next. This coincides with Rentround search volumes which have seen increases in guaranteed rent searches of 29% since the first lockdown in March 2020.
Founder of Rentround, Raj Dosanjh commented “Firstly thank you to all the responses we received from landlords in this survey, the response rate has been exceptional.
The responses show that there is a lot of uncertainty for landlords in the rental market. 33% of landlords are unsure if they want to stay a landlord. News in the upcoming months around stamp duty, tax changes and property price change will go towards swaying the 33% one way or another.
There wasn’t much surprise in the gender and ages of landlords. It’s been widely known that most landlords are male, aged over 35.
Letting agents with a high street presence will be pleased with the amount of landlords choosing the high street as the go to place for picking an agent. It will be interesting to see how that fluctuates in the coming years with the high street being challenged and more agents adopting online/hybrid approaches.
Guaranteed rent continues in popularity. The uncertainty brought about by eviction bans, the future ending of furlough and changes in tenant behaviour is pushing landlords for safer approaches when their rental income is concerned”
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