Landlords should not waste their money on buy to let extras tenants do not want, says a leading letting agent.
Instead of spending luxuries like fitted wardrobes, alarms and media rooms, they should concentrate on what makes life easier for renters.
The most essential demand from tenants is high speed broadband, according to a survey by Carter Jonas.
Also ranking high on the wish list for renters is allocated or off-street parking and modern kitchens and bathrooms.
But they are not bothered about their new home having blackout blinds or curtains, alarms, fitted wardrobes or for flats, outside space.
Besides their likes and dislikes, the letting agent asked tenants about the buy to let extras they would pay more rent for.
The features tenants renting apartments would pay more for are:
But they are unwilling to pay more for:
The features tenants renting houses would pay more for are:
But they are unwilling to pay more for:
Meanwhile, repeat research by property consultants Knight Frank found affordability was the top tenant test applied to buy to let by two out of three tenants, followed by location (23%) and property size (10%).
The firm explained these were the regular top preferences in regular surveys.
Another tenant survey by legal firm Claims Experts had entirely different results.
A call for rent caps topped the rankings, with one in four suggesting rent rises should be linked to inflation, income or location.
Other popular suggestions were councils to licence landlords, buy to let property MoTs to raise living standards and better deposit protection.
