Over the past two years, the lettings market has seen extremely strong competition among tenants seeking to secure their next property and this has only heightened now that people have returned to the capital and their place of work or study.
So at a time when stock levels are low and demand has never been stronger, tenants need to bring their ‘A’ game when house-hunting. Here are my tips in the current market:
REFERENCING AND REGISTERING WITH AGENTS
A straightforward but essential first step for all tenants is ensuring that they have the necessary referencing information ready for when they begin their search, such as ID and proof of address. At present, it can be just a matter of days from someone contacting us to them then agreeing a tenancy so having the paperwork in order up front is key.
Also don’t underestimate the importance of registering with an agent – there are countless examples of properties we have recently let which haven’t made it to the web, simply because they go to someone already on our database. Without building a relationship with an agent, a tenant may find it a tricky environment to navigate given how quickly properties are letting.
PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD FIRST
Historically, tenants would often opt to hold their cards close to their chest and would view their house-hunting search as a three-round process: viewing, initial offer, final offer. In today’s market, we’re finding that if people are serious, they simply have to go straight in with their best offer given the lack of choice, coupled with the fact that many properties are receiving multiple offers over the asking price. Landlords are making decisions almost immediately and ultimately want to agree a tenancy as quickly as they can. Increasingly it seems that tenants who aren’t quick to bid with their strongest offer are unfortunately the ones missing out each time.
CONSIDER LENGTH OF TENANCY
Over the past few years, there’s been a significant rise in tenants taking out longer tenancies of two or three-year periods – and for landlords, this can be a big tick in the box. Knowing that they have someone in place for a lengthy tenure can bring a landlord a degree of certainty and security, and in a competitive situation could see them choose these types of tenants over others seeking a shorter arrangement.
Often an applicant will tell us that they want a 12-month tenancy when actually, their circumstances mean they will be planning to rent for longer. As a result, they may well miss out.
BRING YOUR OWN FURNITURE
It’s often the case that one and two-bedroom flats will come unfurnished but we regularly hear from potential tenants asking if a landlord would be open to providing some furniture. After all, it can seem daunting to furnish an entire property and, as a result, some tenants will even offer a higher rent for a landlord to provide beds, sofas and other key pieces.
Generally though, landlords do prefer not to source, buy and possibly off-load furniture once a tenancy has ended so if you can, try to avoid this being a deal breaker.
FINE-TUNE YOUR CRITERIA
Tenants often want somewhere that will accept pets, a property which comes with a parking space or a home with a second or third bedroom. All are, of course, very typical and understandable in a search – yet sometimes, an applicant doesn’t actually have a pet but feels they may want one in the future, hasn’t a car but thinks a space could come in handy, or is now back in their office full-time and won’t need an extra bedroom to use as a study.
Fine-tuning what really matters is so important and letting your agent know of changing requirements after each viewing can make all the difference between finding a property or not.
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