Landlords get a lot of flack. The bad ones – who in our experience are very much in the minority – are given more than their fair share of column inches in the press. Even the Government often seems to be helping create an unhelpful ‘them and us’ culture in the PRS. So here’s a good news story for a change.
Letting Agent Today reports that mortgage lender Aldermore Bank has carried out new research, identifying how much of a financial contribution private landlords make to their local economies. The company polled 1,000 UK-based landlords to find out more and the results make interesting reading. Here’s what they found.
In total, buy-to-let landlords have spent a staggering £3.61bn on local economies across the UK in the last 12 months. More than 80% of landlords who need to repair or renovate their rental homes use a local company. On average property owners in the rental sector spent £1,443 in the last 12 months on plumbers, builders, letting agents and other tradespeople. And they all hired suppliers from the local community for most of their requirements.
Landlords spent the most on letting agents – around £900m in the last year. This was followed by:
- £442m on small-scale repairs
- £396m on plumbers
- £375.4m on electricians
- £377.3m on builders
- £243.2m on cleaners
Almost a third of landlords responding to the survey said they are keen to actively support their local economy by using local tradespeople and one in four say they tend to be cheaper than big-name nationwide alternatives.
Using local suppliers equals peace of mind for many landlords: more than a third said they trust local tradespeople. Another 26% who don’t live close to their rental property say having local people do maintenance is reassuring because they know the area and add value.
So next time landlords are being given a hard time, they now have some solid financial ammunition to fight back with!