For many who live in the Private Rented Sector, searching for the ideal rental home is a popular past time. A survey of 2,000 tenants from across the UK, carried out by Intus Lettings, sheds light on what that looks like.
Houses were by far the most popular choice, with a location in the countryside (26.65 per cent) the most desired, followed by one in a town (19.85 per cent), a city (12.7 per cent) or on the waterfront (7.4 per cent).
Apartments were considerably less popular, being chosen by fewer than a quarter of respondents in an ideal scenario. Of those, an apartment located in a city scored highest (10.75 per cent), followed by one in a town (5.05 per cent), one on the waterfront (4.6 per cent) and one in a village or the countryside (3.65 per cent).
However, the survey shows that the reality for many tenants does not match up to the dream.
In truth, the survey shows that more than 40 per cent of renters live in apartments, with the majority of those being in cities (19.55 per cent) and towns (15.25 per cent).
And despite the fact that more than a quarter of those who wished to live in a house chose the countryside as the ideal location, only a relatively small number of people currently do (14.25 per cent). Conversely, renting a town house was the most common type of tenure (27.65 per cent) despite fewer than one in five people stating that was their dream type of home.
Hope McKendrick, Head of Lettings at Intus Lettings, said: “It is important for landlords and letting agents to bear in mind that where people are living right now may not be a good indication of where they actually want to live.
“For example, our survey shows that more than three times as many people want to live on the waterfront than is currently the case, meaning that properties in seaside locations are likely to rent out much more quickly than those in city centres.”
Hope added: “By providing more homes in renters’ dream locations, landlords and agents can increase the happiness of tenants and the overall health of the rental sector.”
