As many people in the private rented sector are wondering about their responsibilities as tenants MakeItCheaper.com have launched a new guide explaining who is liable for what.
The need for a tool to help renters learn more about tenancy issues emerged from a recent research by the energy savings website. The study revealed that 43 per cent of tenants renting from private landlords are unsure with whom responsibility lies for a number of aspects of their tenancy – either with their landlord or with themselves.
Only 11 per cent of tenants believe they know more about division of responsibilities than their landlords, while 48 per cent say landlords know better. This perhaps suggests that a number of the disputes that do arise between private landlords and tenants could be caused by a lack of knowledge on the tenant’s part.
The distinction between ‘damage’ and ‘fair wear & tear’ was voted one of the most ambiguous issues, with a quarter (25 per cent) of renters saying they would welcome clarification on this topic.
Asked about the most important qualities for a landlord to have, over 65 per cent of tenants said they most value honest landlords who fix the issues they are responsible for. It would seem that many landlords do in fact display these qualities, as over 85 per cent of tenants rate their landlord’s management of their tenancy as ‘average’ or better – with 60 per cent giving a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ rating.
A further evidence that tenant’s attitudes towards private landlords are largely positive is the small proportion of renters (15 per cent) who said they have had an unresolved dispute in the past 12 months and the fact that less than one in five tenants admitted that they have been too afraid to bring up issues with their landlord in the past.
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