June 27, 2016

Overwhelming majority of city’s tenants don’t do checks on landlords

Fewer than one in ten Londoners go to the trouble to check their landlord’s credentials, according to new research.

The recent study, conducted by a city removals firm, found that just eight per cent carried out due diligence on the person they were set to rent from.

There are concerns that not carrying out any checks increases the chances of tenants being taken advantage of by a rogue operator.

Research suggests that this is a problem around the UK, but those in London are less likely than the country as a whole to seek a prospective landlord’s credentials. This is likely because of the challenges of finding a suitable property in the capital and that many tenants feel compelled to “take what they’re offered.”

Londoners were also found to be less likely to be put off the offer of a property even in the event that they’d heard bad things about the landlord in question.

Regan McMillan, boss of Kiwi Movers, who conducted the research, said: “We see the sharp end of the rental market. We get to meet and speak to a lot of people who, quite frankly, are at the mercy of the highly competitive rental market.

“Rental properties are snapped up in a flash and most people know that if they want to secure a place to live, they need to act quickly. This means they simply don’t have time to check out a landlord and even if they did, I think a lot of them would take the risk just to get a place to live.”

If you need advice on any aspect of landlord and tenant legislation, please visit or contact Chris Rodda or Jacinta Conway.

Share on: