Rental Property Maintenance: What should a landlord expect?

Over the last 12 months, we have seen an increasing number of long-term tenants on the move. We have been dealing with this both on the exits side and on the moving inside as well. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the circumstances of many people to change, for better or worse, and this has led to many previously long-term tenants feeling the need to move on. This has highlighted a number of issues with regard to property maintenance and different landlords’ expectations of rental property maintenance.

“Landlords cannot expect betterment”

This is a comment which causes some interesting reactions from landlords, so what exactly does it mean? In simple terms, it means that a landlord can not expect that his rental property will be returned to him in better condition at the end of a tenancy, than the condition it was in when given to the tenants at the start of the tenancy.

There are of course some exceptions to this, but it wouldn’t be a rule without some exceptions. These exceptions could include lower rent offers in exchange for low-level renovation. Or situations where there is a very long-term tenant and they are given more scope for improvements in exchange for favourable rent or tenancy agreements. For now, let’s focus on what the practical application of this comment means for the majority of landlords and rental properties.

During the course of most tenancies, there will be some wear and tear inflicted on your rental property and this will lead to the property being returned to the landlord in an objectively worse condition than when it was first rented out. This is not to say that the condition should be significantly worse or that rental properties suffer from any more wear and tear than any other type of home. But wear and tear, is normal and reasonable. Particularly in the case of long-term tenants, tenants who may have been in that property for 5, 7 or even 10 years or more.

What is reasonable property maintenance?

So now we come to the issue of what is ‘reasonable’? What does that mean in the context of property wear and tear? How would you define ‘wear and tear’?

It could be summed up as ‘living in the property but not abusing the property’. This seems reasonable, right? So, what does that look like in practical terms? Scuffs on a hallway wall could be acceptable, particularly over a longer tenancy. But a toddler’s artwork on the wall, less so. Although most responsible parents would do their best to clean up after their budding Picasso.

What about in the kitchen? A scratch on the kitchen worktop is annoying but these things happen sometimes. But if the worktop looks like it belongs to Edward Scissorhands or appears to have been witness to a horror movie scene with cuts and marks everywhere then that is likely to be negligence.

The first step for any landlord is to work out what is reasonable and take into context the length of tenancy and the wider situation of the property. We often meet landlords who are shocked when carpets need replacing following a long tenancy period, they say to us “those carpets were new” and “I only replaced those when the tenant moved it”. Then the landlord remembers that that tenant has been in the property for 8 years and although the carpets may have been brand new when they moved it much time, wear and tear has passed since then.

By the same token if the tenant has not been in the property long your expectations of the level of property maintenance required may be completely different, and this would be completely reasonable.

How does a landlord approach maintenance?

I see many different approaches, from landlords to property maintenance, both during tenancies and between them. At one end of the scale is the Landlord who completely re-decorates top to bottom between tenancies, at the other are those that don’t do anything unless they really really have to. We also have some landlords who will complete maintenance work only between tenancies never during, and others who complete regularly regardless of tenancy stage, for example, completing all scheduled maintenance once per year like clockwork.

The ideal situation is somewhere in between, the best route is to take a proactive and flexible approach to maintenance. It is always better to deal with a small issue before it becomes a major problem. Taking a proactive approach is always easier when you have a good relationship with your tenants and when your tenants are willing to work with you on small maintenance issues.

Regular inspections at a property are a good way of dealing with property maintenance. When carrying out your regular property inspections you can notice changes from property inspection to inspection. This helps you to pick up on upcoming issues and schedule regular maintenance at a convenient time before you have to deal with emergency maintenance at the worst possible time, like Christmas eve or at 2 am.

Property inspections also give you a chance to nip any negligent behaviour from the tenant in the bud. You can have those difficult conversations with tenants about cleaning the oven, ventilation, the damp spots they may be causing themselves. By having an open and relaxed dialogue before the issue escalates you can improve your relationship with the tenant and also reduce the amount of maintenance required.

If you aren’t comfortable in having those conversations then you should be looking to speak with a letting agent who can work as a buffer between you and your tenants. Using a third party to have those difficult conversations helps to improve your relationship with the tenants and to ensure any issues are handled in a professional, calm and firm way. If this sounds like you then give us a call today to discuss both our fully managed and pick n mix service options.