How to Be A Good Tenant

There are plenty of horror stories circulating the web and mass media about landlords who fail to fix faults or exploit their occupants in various ways. However, despite not being illuminated as much, there is also a fair share of tenants who ruin property or simply avoid paying their fair share of the rent.

The relationship between a tenant and a landlord is mutual and goes both ways. Both parties need to treat each other with respect and dignity to get the best out of this arrangement. Plus, it serves you well being a good tenant. Doing so can help you get good references from the landlord, which can help you secure better properties in the future, and looking after your home can help ensure that you get back as much of your deposit as possible. By no means do you have to become best friends with your landlord, but it helps to be a good tenant. Here are some ways of doing so.

Pay On Time

One of the quickest ways to sour a relationship with a landlord is by failing to pay your rent at the agreed times each month. Landlords rely on these rent payments to pay for their own bills and living expenses, so missing a payment can be a big burden for them.

The easiest way to ensure that you don’t miss a rent payment is to simply set out a direct debit where the monies are transferred from your account automatically. There, of course, may be times where things are challenging financially for you, and it’s looking like you might struggle to make rent. If this is the case, it’s always a good idea to let the landlord know as early as possible. Doing this can actually be very beneficial, as they might offer solutions and assistance to make things more manageable, especially if you follow the rest of the advice in this article to maintain a good relationship with them.

Keep The Home Clean

While you’re renting a property, for the majority of situations, you will be responsible for certain maintenance and upkeep, and it’s important to do that throughout your stay and not to let the accommodation deteriorate. For example, if you have a garden, it’s important that you mow it regularly and keep it weed-free. You should also look after appliances such as the oven and bathroom equipment.

It’s also a good habit to sporadically deep clean your home every couple of months. Not only is it nice to dwell in a clean home, but by not allowing for a mess to linger, it will make things a lot easier for when your tenancy is up and you start clearing to move away. Cleaning at the end of a tenancy can be a nightmare. So if you’re looking for help or don’t want to tackle the situation on your own, then look into end of tenancy cleaning London to find professionals who can get your rented property looking brand new, ensuring that you keep your deposit.

Avoid Making Modifications

Everyone loves putting up decorations to make their rented home feel more like theirs, but you need to make sure that you don’t do anything that can cause lasting changes or damages to a home. Putting up and hanging personal pictures and posters are all well and good, but you shouldn’t be nailing things into the wall, as this can damage the surface and upset your landlord. The best way to hang decorations is to use hanging strips, as these can be removed without harming surfaces.

It’s also a good idea to avoid painting, plastering, or wallpapering any walls or surfaces, as these aesthetic customisations might not be to the taste of the landlord, and may have to be painted over again when you move out and new tenants come in. If you want to paint over cracks, or if an area of your rented home looks like it needs a refresh, it’s a good idea to ask your landlord first. You never know; they might get a painter in on your behalf to do the job for you.

If your home is furnished or half-furnished, then bringing in new furniture of your own may be a bit tricky, as you’ll have to find a solution about what to do with the current furniture. Again, before you do anything, speak to your landlord, as they might be able to put the previous piece into storage or pay for your new furnishing, providing that it can stay with the home once you’ve left.

Keep Your Landlord In The Loop

You don’t need to inform your landlord about everything that you’re doing, but it’s always a good idea to let them know about anything that might affect the house. This is where a lot of tenants become bad tenants unwittingly. When something breaks or becomes damaged, a lot of tenants can be put off from informing their landlord about it because they might be worried about their reaction. This is even more common if the issue is something that they can put up with. However, not informing your landlord can result in them having to pay an unexpected bill to fix the issue at the end of your tenancy – which at that point would likely come out of your deposit.

If something breaks and it wasn’t a result of negligence, then inform your landlord. Not only will this mean that they better know what to expect the state of the property to be like, but they can also arrange to have it fixed and repaired, free of charge to you.

These are just some of the obvious ways to be a good tenant. At the end of the day, all these things boil down to common courtesy. As a tenant, behave in a way that you would want others to behave if you yourself were a landlord. That way, you should be sure to be one of the good ones.