How to Retain Good Tenants

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Good tenants are worth their weight in gold. Once you have found good tenants, it’s important to retain them where possible. Here are our top tips for keeping tenants happy and tenancies stress-free.

Keep Maintenance Jobs Up-to-Date

A good landlord will ensure maintenance jobs are carried out promptly.

While landlords and tenants both share in the responsibility for keeping a rental property in a good condition, landlords take the lion’s share and are legally required to maintain their properties.

Check out our property maintenance checklist to ensure you are always ahead of your maintenance tasks for each season.

Landlords should also ensure they are providing a warm and dry home which is up to the Healthy Homes standards.  Even if you’re not technically required to do so yet, it’s worth thinking about bringing this forward if you don’t already comply this – tenants understandably place a high value on warmth and comfort.

Allow Tenants to Make Minor Alterations

From 11 February 2021, landlords have been legally obligated to allow tenants to make minor changes to their rental properties. However, landlords are able to set reasonable conditions.

Tenants should be able to feel that their rental property is their home, which these minor changes allow. Examples of acceptable minor changes include:

• Changing curtains
• Hanging up pictures
• Baby-proofing
• Securing bookshelves to walls to manage earthquake risk.

Before any changes are made, tenants must:

• Make the request in writing to the landlord.
• Receive the landlord’s permission before making the minor change. The landlord must respond within 21 days, but a landlord can ask to extend this timeframe.
• Pay the installation costs (unless the landlord agrees to pay for the alteration).
• Remove the fitting at the end of the tenancy (unless the landlord agrees it can stay).
• Return the property to substantially the same condition it was in before the minor change was made.

Find out more detail on changes included in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2020.

Consider Allowing Pets

Tenants with pets often have more trouble finding suitable rental properties meaning they often stay longer once they find a property that allows their furry friends. Landlords can charge a little more weekly rent to cover any extra wear and tear caused by pets.

Read our article on Rent, Tenants and Pets to find out more.

Keep In Touch

A good landlord will occasionally touch base with their tenants to ensure everything is going well with the tenancy. Landlords should treat tenants with respect at all times and ensure they follow the letter of the law. If you follow all the relevant tenancy, health and safety and related laws your tenant should have nothing to complain about.

Regular rental inspections can benefit tenants as well as landlords, as tenants will have the opportunity to raise any maintenance issues and landlords can deal with these in a timely manner.

Find out more about the benefits of home inspections.

How Crockers Can Help You

Every landlord wants a hassle-free tenancy, but this often comes down to finding good tenants in the first place, then following the above advice to ensure you keep your valued tenants happy.

Landlords who communicate well, attend to maintenance jobs promptly, provide a warm and dry home and respect their tenants’ right to the quiet enjoyment of their property are likely to have happier tenants who choose to stay.

Find out more about how a Crockers Property Manager can help you or request a Property Management information pack here.