With more people renting a home privately than ever before, the survey conducted on behalf of Ocean Finance has revealed a high level of dissatisfaction amongst tenants with the service they receive.
It also shows that 46% of tenants deal with their landlord directly, some 24% deal with both a letting agent and a landlord and 30% communicate only with a letting agent.
Renting is more prevalent among younger generations, with 52% of 18 to 24 year olds renting their home privately. Some 46% of 25 to 34 year olds rent and 22% of those aged 35 to 44.
When asked why they had felt ‘ripped off’ by their landlord or letting agent, the most popular reason given by disgruntled tenants was a failure to get repairs done, with 53% unhappy renters complaining of this. This was closely followed by delays in getting repairs carried out cited by 47%.
Other complaints voiced by tenants who felt their landlord or letting agent had ‘ripped them off’ included non-refund of the tenancy deposit, 37%, unreasonable deductions from the tenancy deposit, 25%, unreasonable increases in rent, 23%, and being handed unreasonable fees or charges to begin the tenancy agreement, 22%.
‘The English Housing Survey recently revealed that private renting has hit a peak of four million and has almost doubled since the 1980s. While many more of us are happy to live in rented accommodation, this survey suggests that at certain points in time we can be less than happy with the service provided by landlords and their agents,’ said Ocean Finance spokesman Ian Williams.
‘The biggest driver of dissatisfaction is the failure or timeliness of getting repairs done. If you are left without heating or hot water, for example, you have every right to expect the landlord or their agent to get it fixed promptly,’ he added.
