Tenants want bills included rentals – but choice is restricted
Most tenants say they want their utility bills included in their monthly rent, but there are only a few rental properties that offer this in England, research reveals.
The findings come from Zero Deposit which polled 2,400 tenants to learn that 41% of them find it stressful to not only pay their utility bills but organising them too when they move into a new rented home.
Renters say the main reasons for the stress are the high and rising costs of utilities, the difficulty of managing money and opening and closing accounts with utility providers.
Plus, there is confusion over new and changing bills, and the hassle of dealing with multiple suppliers.
'Tenants across the nation are struggling with rental affordability'
The firm's chief executive, Sam Reynolds, said: "Tenants across the nation are struggling with rental affordability at present and this struggle isn't refined to asking rents and rental deposits alone.
"So, it's hardly surprising that so many would prefer to have their utility bills included within the cost of renting.
"Many tenants feel like they’ve lost control of their monthly outgoings; it's understandable that a large proportion would even opt for such a property over one that doesn't offer this added convenience."
Rent a home that has the utility bills included
The survey also reveals that 55% of renters say they would prefer to rent a home that has the utility bills included in the rent.
And 44% said a property offering ‘bills included’ would be there choice to rent over one that does not offer this convenience.
However, the survey also analysed the current rental market stock listed on the property platform Zoopla and found that only 12% of the available properties in England have the bills included in the rent.
This means that tenants who want this option have a limited choice and may have to compromise on other factors such as location, size, and quality.
Availability of bills included rentals
Despite a strong tenant demand for renting a home with bills included, renters will struggle to find landlords offering this.
The availability of such homes varies around England and tenants in the South East and London will find it the hardest place to find a bills included home – just 9% of South East and 10% of London rentals will offer this.
But for tenants in the East Midlands things are different because they have access to the highest proportion of bills included properties with 22% of rental homes offering this benefit.
There’s also a good proportion for tenants in the West Midlands (17%) and also in the North West (16%) that have rented properties that have the bills included.
Growing demand for all-inclusive rents from tenants
A survey from Rightmove earlier this year also found a growing demand for all-inclusive rents from tenants.
It found that the term 'bills included' had become the second most popular search term on its platform when looking for a home to rent.
That was up from fourth place a year ago - with renters facing rising energy costs being the reason.
The most popular search term, Rightmove found, was a landlord that allowed pets.
The firm's property data expert, Tim Bannister, said: "Any landlord able to offer this to a tenant is likely to be met with a long queue of applicants."
‘A rented home that had the bills included’
Simon Thompson, the managing director of Accommodation for Students, said: “It’s not that long ago when lots of landlords were offering a rented home that had the bills included.
“They were a popular choice and made budgeting easier for many tenants.
“But times change, and the rising cost of utility bills means they aren’t so common now, but they might return in the future.”
He added: “I know from student accommodation; a landlord would assume that the lights and heating would be left on all day and calculate how much the bills would be for that.
“But with rising interest rates and landlord costs increasing, many of those homes offering bills included will be too expensive to rent for most tenants.”
