On average, tenants reside in a property for 18 months before leaving, and it typically takes a landlord about 22 days to replace one of such tenants. That is almost a month. Considering the average rental fee in the UK, this suggests that a regular landlord misses out on over £500 every 18 months because of void periods.
Smart landlords understand that an empty house is no good to them in terms of steady income generation and would thus try to avoid void periods as best they can. But void periods are inevitable. Their frequency can, of course, be reduced, but there are some times that a landlord can find them almost impossible to avoid—like during summer breaks for student lets.
The best landlords can do is focus on the things they can, to some extents, control—like finding inventive ways to avoid those void periods that may arise as result of the state of a property, the rent of a property, or perhaps a landlord’s relationships with his or her tenants.
In order to be able to solve a problem, you must first understand it. As a landlord, you ought to have records. Fetch them and single out the void periods. Ponder over what caused them, what made those tenants leave, whether you could have done something about their leaving, how long it took you to replace them, and why it took you that long.
When you can answer these questions for each one of your property’s void periods, then you are already halfway through finding ways to avoid those void periods.
Also, by going through your records, you get to calculate the average length of your property’s void periods as well as how frequently they occur, and thus be able to estimate how much you have lost over the years and how much you are going to lose in the coming years if you don’t do anything about those void periods. If the resultant figures don’t motivate you to do something, I don’t know what will.
The problem could be that your property is in a bad state, -rickety even. You have to understand that people are attracted to good things. A property with a leaking roof or worn paint isn’t going to make your tenants stay, as nobody wants to wake up to find that his or her television is dripped on; nobody loves the idea of realising, after reclining on your wall, that his or her clothes have gained patches of paint.
Even if the state of your property isn’t why your tenants are parking out, try sprucing up the house every spring. Change or repair damages. Add a little decoration. This wouldn’t only make your tenants want to stay—thus reducing the frequency of your void periods—it would even invite new ones. When your property is appealing, you are more likely to have fewer, and even shorter, void periods.
The way you relate with your tenants—both current and potential ones. If you are the type of landlord that imposes unreasonable rules on your tenant, then it’s likely that’s what pushing them away.
Be the first to receive a new tenant. When a tenant brings up a complaint, attend to it properly. Offer your tenants perks—for instance, a referral program where your tenants gain a certain amount when someone they refer to you comes on board as a new tenant; this will motivate your current tenants to help you escape void periods.
In all, when your tenants are happy with you, not only will they want to remain with you; they will also speak nicely of you among their friends and family, thus creating opportunities for other people to want to live in your property.
Not leaving any stone unturned, when vetting prospective tenants, is one of the best practices of successful landlords. This helps you judge whether a tenant is going to be staying in your property for a long time or not.
Don’t just ask simple questions. Ask about their education or jobs; ask them why they left their former homes and how long they stayed there; ask about their relations’ whereabouts, check them out on the internet, ask about their marital lives et cetera. And don’t hesitate to verify any of the information they give you.
For instance, a student in his or her final year would be a bad idea if you are looking to lower the frequency of your property’s void periods. So is a woman whose husband and children live in another state. Instead look for couples who have long-term jobs in your city.
The longer your tenants stay with you, the fewer the void periods your property has.
If your property is located near a university and is well suited for students, be sure to charge them for a full year’s rent instead of charging them for only the nine or ten months they reside in your property. This way, you wouldn’t have to worry about void periods during summer breaks.
If you, however, charge student for only the nine or ten months they live in your property, then you might want to start serving temporary summer tenancies to seasonal workers, international students, and other people that need such a tenancy in order to fill the void.
This wouldn’t reduce the frequency of, or shorten your, void period, but it will definitely serve as a consolation.
So crosscheck your landlord insurance to make sure you are covered during void periods. Some insurance companies will offer full coverage between tenancies for a period of up to ninety days. Considering UK’s average void period of 22days, it’s very unlikely that your void periods will reach ninety days, if you are an industrious landlord.
In any case, if your landlord insurance doesn’t cover void periods, then consider amending it.
Some letting agencies can manage your property for you and pay you a fixed amount as rent every month, even during void periods. Depending on the terms agreed on, this eliminates your having to worry about void periods. Just make sure that you are getting a fair rate for your property.
The length of a void period will mostly likely be longer if the rent a landlord is asking for is too expensive compared to those of other properties in the area. Maybe your property is of the highest class in your location and because of that you have set an unreasonably high rent for it. That’s only going to drive people away from it.
You have to first consider location. A classy house will only earn you a hgih rate if it’s situated in a nice community. Apart from that, if the ceiling rent for an area is £600, you are going to have a hard time renting your property out for £700 even if it’s more elegant than the other properties in the location.
So set a reasonable rent for your property. Otherwise you would be setting it up for long, frequent void periods.
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