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Select properties your tenants want

Landlords buying properties near to green spaces or good schools may be paying premium prices for characteristics that tenants don't value, warns ludlowthompson.com, the online and high street property agency.

In a recent survey ludlowthompson.com found that tenants and landlords have vastly different opinions of what is important when it comes to rental properties.

A third of landlords think that it is important to buy a rental property in a desirable postcode, which contrasts starkly with tenants as only 16.8% consider this an issue when deciding where to rent.

While 64% of landlords think that having a property near green spaces is crucial when deciding where to invest, tenants are much less concerned, with fewer than half (49%) valuing this as important.

Stephen Ludlow, director of ludlowthompson.com said: "There is often an age gap between landlords and tenants, and so their opinions of what is important with respect to housing needs differ greatly. Landlords often look at houses in terms of what they would like if they were to live there, which can be very different from what tenants are looking for."

"If landlords are paying premium prices to invest in a desirable postcode or to be near green spaces they really need to be sure they are going to recoup this in extra rent."

Almost 40% of landlords think that being near to a good school is important when choosing an investment property, but less than a quarter of tenants express this concern.

Half of landlords indicate that having a property in an area with a low crime rate is very important to them, whereas only 39.8% of tenants think that this is an issue affecting their choice of where to live.

Ludlow continued, "Landlords who want to squeeze the most from their investment need to keep in close touch with their target market."

Both tenants and landlords agree that noise pollution causes great concern for them when looking at properties. Warns Ludlow: "Landlords should be wary of buying too close to a high street or main road as this is not an attractive prospect for tenants."

"Any potential investor must fully consider their target market, and invest accordingly. Rather than having a good school nearby, which would increase the price paid for the property, something such as having a great pub or restaurant in the neighbourhood may be enough to convince a renter that the property is right for them."

Hide table

Percentage of landlords and tenants rating each factor as important or very important when choosing a property
Factor	Landlords	Tenants
Distance from public transport	80.5%	86.9%
Distance to shops	65.5%	69.9%
Local crime rate	72.1%	69.0%
Distance from work	65.5%	67.3%
Noise pollution	62.3%	61.1%
Distance from green spaces	64.0%	49.5%
Distance from restaurants or bars	34.4%	44.4%
Distance from council houses/social housing	44.3%	35.4%
Distance from sports or gym facilities	21.3%	23.0%
Distance from good schools	39.3%	23.0%
Prestige associated with street or postcode	32.8%	16.8%

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