What is best for tenants/what do tenants look for?

[Anoone]

Evening,

Currently renovating a property to rent out. It’s been completely gutted to a shell and is basically brand new!
I’m now at the point where it’s flooring, window fittings and tiling.
My questions are what makes a property desirable?

carpet or LVT in living room?
LVT or tiles on kitchen and utility floor?
Colours of wall tiles in kitchen and bathroom?

Also would a prospective tenant prefer curtain rails were put up so they can dress the windows accordingly? I will however install shutter blinds in the kitchen and bathroom though.

Any other things I should take into account too?

Thank you!

I think this greatly varies. For me, carpets would be an absolute no-no. So laminate floors everywhere is my preference. Curtain rod - 100%. I wouldn't expect to put any fixtures up myself (and tenancy agreement usually stipulates no drilling etc so I wouldn't even be able to do it without needing to make good at the end of the tenancy).
Colour of tiles - keep it simple, I guess. I prefer a bit of personality in the property but then your personality may not be mine. We have awful teal and yellow combo in our living room and orange walls in the bedroom which I don't love but it still feels better than horrid white walls. For someone else this may be a complete no-no.
One thing I would say is a must for us is storage. I can forgive anything in a house which has sufficient storage - built in wardrobes, under stair cupboards, shelving. I jumped with joy when I saw a linen cupboard in our current rental.

Honestly depends where you live. Until recently I was a tenant in a high demand area, and properties were arranged as suits the landlord, not the tenant. In that case you want hard-wearing and easily cleaned.

If you really want to encourage tenants then they usually look for furniture, including storage, (if furnished does it have the necessities?), decor (is it hideous or liveable - i say go boring and neutral) and price. What they actually care about when they move in may change e.g. do bedroom curtains let in too much light? Is the place too drafty?

It's less of a commitment than house purchase so tenants often take what is available, and move on if they can and want to.

Thank you. The house will be completely unfurnished and painted a neutral colour throughout. I don’t want any part of the house to be grey so I have injected a bit of colour into the new kitchen!

The rental houses I’ve enjoyed most are the ones with character and colour, although nothing too crazy.
But the reality is that they’re likely to let regardless of decor if they’re in good condition and well maintained. So choose hard wearing finishes that last longer and you’ll have less work to do to bring them up to scratch between tenants.
Just make sure all the fixtures are in place and don’t take all the lightbulbs out like my last landlord did. That’s makes moving in day far more of a chore!

I would have it painted neutrally and have laminate flooring as i think easier to keep clean and more hard wearing. I would have hard wearing kitchen work tops and some colourful tiling maybe a blue/teal as that’s livable by most people.

Good extractor fans in kitchen and bathroom will help to stop excess moisture from building up.

If there’s an outdoor area some storage will be useful and I would put up curtain poles so tenants can put curtains up and you know walls won’t get damaged by someone trying their DIY skills out. And def some blinds up.

When I rented the most important thing was a good landlord and you sound very considerate so I don't think you'll have any problems finding decent tenants. Make sure any repairs are carried out straight away, my landlord left me for a week with no heating or hot water because he thought he could fix the problem himself before giving in and getting a professional.

There should definitely be curtain rails and blinds in the bathroom already there.
I personally would prefer carpet in the living room and bedrooms. A sensible dark-ish colour - not cream or something daft.
If it's a long term tenancy (by that I mean the tenants are going to be there for years) then please let the tenants be able to put up shelves, pictures or at least do that thing where you attach bookcases etc to the wall so they don't topple over.
Also let them decorate to their own taste - ie paint walls or put up wallpaper.

For me it would be more about how you are as a landlord...

Get blackout blinds in all windows then curtain rods too so tenants can put up the curtains of their choice. I put vinyl in the kitchen on the floor because it's softer underfoot, and cheaper to replace than tiles. It also washes well. I have all rooms painted white. I allow tenants to paint it if they want too but they must return it to plain white before they leave and not get paint on light switches either. I tend to put laminate in all rooms because some tenants are asthmatic and carpets irritate asthma. Tenants can get a room size rug if they want too. I put washing machines, tumble dryers, cooker and a dishwasher in all properties I let out. I get smoke detectors wired into mains electric with a 10 year battery back up. Get the carbon monoxide detectors fitted to the walls. Make sure the loft is lagged to 300 mm and led lightbulbs. Get fans fitted in the bathroom and kitchen to avoid damp and put a clause in contract no drying washing indoors unless in tumble dryer. Put up a washing line in the garden or the back yard. Take photos of all rooms and include the inside of the oven. Get tenants to sign to say a true image of the condition of the house as they move in. Give them a copy of photos in their pack. If walls are not smooth consider getting them skimmed over.

Thanks all! Everything you can possibly imagine in a house is brand spanking new and done to an high standard - even a brand new roof! 💰 💷💰💷💰💷💰

A fair rental price, good location.

As a renter apart from the usual I look for:

Good storage (vital).
A dishwasher
No signs of vermin
In my next apartment I will look for gas central heating I have electricity only and the bills kill me!
Signs that management actively look after shared areas.

Also minor things I would not turn a place down over this but I hate when they install bathroom fittings with separate taps. Mixer taps please

I was taken aback that my place came with no curtains - an annoyance at having to source them myself but actually it’s ok (although would have preferred blinds.

At least it allowed me to get black out curtains.

Having a clause that there is no drying indoors is stupid.

1. Not everywhere has outdoor space to dry clothes

2. It’s not possible to dry clothes outdoors in winter

3. Not every place has space for a dryer / not all clothes can go in a dryer.

It’s a stupid clause that no tenant would follow.

I think I’m a good landlord. Anything the last tenants needed was done immediately, even minor non urgent issues. It will always be my house but I would like it to be someone else’s home if that makes sense…..

Yes, this. We had a previous landlord who would insist on a ton of photos of whatever fault we reported, have we tried this, have we tried that etc. Then he would come round and try and fix it himself usually with some form of sticky tape or doing some quick tip he'd seen on YouTube. Then when whatever it was was still broken, leaking or not working he might or might not get a professional in. It was so frustrating.
We moved out after he put the rent up disproportionately despite a number of things wrong with the property. The oven door wouldn't shut properly so he gave us magnets to stick it closed. I asked him if I should bother cleaning the oven when moving out as I assumed he would be replacing it for the new tenants. He said it was staying. 🫤
So anyway, get things fixed promptly and professionally and don't try to be your tenants' friend. They are paying for a service to be provided not to develop a relationship with you. It sounds like you might already be doing this so I hope you get some good tenants who appreciate your professionalism.

As much as I love carpet in the living room, I'd much rather have LVT for the sake of cleanliness! If you allow pets then you have the risk of the pet messing in the house, and guaranteed dirt being trodden In. Same again with kids, younger ones may have accidents on the floor if potty training, treading dirt in from the garden, tenants may not be a 'remove your shoes' kind of family. If tenants want a bit of softness they can add their own rug.
Kitchen I'd also go for LVT over tile. It's not as cold, and again, if there's young kids then it's not such a hard surface if they fall. Also cheaper and easier to replace than a tile that end ups chipped/cracked.
I'd go for neutral colours with the kitchen and bathroom tiling/floor, theres plenty of colourful accessories available if your tenants want to add a pop of colour and if you stick with the netruel at least pretty much any colour will go!

It's not stupid at all. All my houses have outdoor clothes lined and indoor tumble dryers. Drying clothing indoors over radiators causes damp and mouldy. This is well known. Most contacts have a clause stating no drying indoors unless in tumble dryer.

It is stupid for the reasons I stated.

You expect your tenants to ruin their clothes to “protect” your investment. Landlords like you are why people are so vitriolic towards Landlords.

(and any reasonable tenant would ignore such a clause.)

It is perfectly normal to dry clothes indoors and also not have mould. Are you going to reimburse tenants when your tumble dryer ruins their clothes?

Also citation needed for the claim “most contracts state no drying of clothes indoors”

Put up some picture hooks so tenants can hang their own pictures.

Being able to have pets (agreed in advance with you).

Drying clothing indoors over radiators causes damp and mouldy. This is well known.

Well known but not inevitable. I dry my washing on airers indoors over the winter and yet no mould. My house is well aired though.

This.

I was offered a long term secondment at work. I wanted to move back to my flat when I came back, so let it out. If you're an absentee landlord, make sure you get a decent agent. Any issues or requests relating to my flat are dealt with within 24 hours (or in the case of repairs, instructed within 24 hours). What @Anoone said above - always remember that although it's your house, it's your tenant's home. So even things like requests for pets - I've had two, one for a new tenant who had cats, and one in place who wanted to get a rabbit. We agreed an additional clause with the tenant about dealing with any damage and additional cleaning at end of tenancy, and in both cases, it worked out perfectly.

Good tenants are worth their weight in gold, so just treat them like you'd want to be treated.

All major EA's who set up contracts have this clause in . I used Reed Rains but in the past have used other high street EA's who had the same clause in.