If you’re looking for a place to rent and find yourself with a few options of similar quality, then it would be a good idea to base your decision on the quality of your landlord. We explained in a previous blog some of the questions you should ask in order to keep your potential new landlord as transparent and honest as possible, but there are other concerns which we will discuss below.
Flexibility
A landlord who is flexible doesn’t mean one who lets you pay the rent whenever you want. You are legally obliged to pay it by the agreed date so it’s your responsibility to ensure that happens. However, we all know that life throws a few unexpected events at us from time to time, be it a car breaking down or perhaps an illness or injury that requires a significant recovery period. In these kinds of emergency instances, it helps to have an understanding landlord who will allow you to pay your rent a bit later than usual.
You should also enquire about the date that the rent is due, as it will be beneficial to you for that date to be at least a few days after your own pay day. Companies sometimes have problems sending out wages so having a few days grace between being paid and needing to pay the rent will help avoid any late payment issues which are beyond your control. A landlord who is flexible on these issues is a good landlord. I should also say that a landlord who is not flexible about the rent due date is not necessarily a bad landlord as they may have their own payments to make and thus prefer whatever date they originally specified, even if that clashes with your own payday. In such an instance simply ascertain that’s the case and inform them of your reasons for wanting a later date, so that they are prepared in case you do have any issues with your wages being paid on time.
Parity of Promptness
To be a good tenant, you of course want to be paying your rent on time, but your promptness should be matched by the landlord’s own haste in responding to any issues in the property. If there’s a leak or the boiler breaks, then you need your landlord to be contactable (either directly or through a registered letting agent) so that the issue can be dealt with quickly. So before signing any tenancy agreement, simply ask what the landlord’s process is for dealing with such issues.
Also remember that landlords are often a reflection of the tenants themselves, so the better a tenant you are, the more flexible and quick to solve problems your landlord is likely to be.
