Nearly one in three landlords has admitted that the role of renting out a property is more stressful than they had expected, according to recent research.
They say that the ‘full-on’ nature of the job has created more stress in their lives than they ever believed it would, with 10% of landlords admitting that the behaviour of their tenants had led to anxiety problems.
Property management firm London Shared says that 76% of landlords said their tenants did not understand their responsibilities, which meant they were permanently 'on-call'. To underline this, 34% of landlords said they had received calls from their tenants in the middle of the night complaining of a range of issues from lost keys to blocked drains.
Another 14% of landlords said they had been asked by a tenant to attend the property at inappropriate times for them to turn on the heating, and 13% of them have been asked to change a lightbulb or a fuse.
Many landlords are forced to serve eviction notices to irresponsible tenants
That's not all, either: 24% of landlords said that these issues have directly led to them being forced to serve an eviction notice to their tenant, while 44% said inappropriate behaviour has led to an eviction notice.
Other reasons for eviction include using the rented property for illegal means, and subletting without the landlord's permission.
However, the survey also reveals that it's not just tenants who don't appreciate what their responsibilities are: under their tenancy agreements 43% of landlords also said they were unsure of their responsibilities when it came to carrying out repairs.
Another 24% of said they were unclear on their legal responsibilities and their licensing requirements for houses of multiple occupation - a quickly growing type of rental property.
Despite the stress levels, most landlords admit they are increasingly dependent on the rental income from their properties with 50% using the money to pay off a mortgage; this again highlights the growing popularity of buy to let as an investment vehicle.
When it came to managing their property, the average landlord spent 11 hours a month carrying out maintenance tasks, and 83% said they were spending up to £5,000 every year on maintenance and property repairs.
Buy-to-let investors put off by tax changes
Meanwhile, research has revealed that one in four potential buy-to-let investors has been put off from purchasing a rental property because of upcoming tax changes. From April, buy to let homes will face an extra 3% in stamp duty and there's also a reduction in tax relief.
The figures come from investment platform www.rplan.co.uk, who also say that 9% of potential investors have now abandoned their plans for purchasing a buy to let property, while 30% said they were unsure of what they would do.
