How landlords can make their properties appeal to younger tenants

These days, renting isn’t just for younger adults, but it’s probably fair to say that younger adults are natural renters. It’s probably also fair to say that the distinction between students and young professionals is becoming increasingly blurry.

Many students will now work during their studies, and not necessarily just for financial reasons, they may also wish to get an early start on the career ladder. Similarly many young professionals will continue to study after they graduate in order to speed up their progress in the world of work.

Because of this, students and young-adult professionals tend to be attracted to properties with similar features and facilities. With that in mind, here are some ways landlords can make their properties more appealing to both groups.

Offer high-speed wired and wireless internet

At this point in time, high-speed wireless internet is an attraction to just about any market, but offering wired internet access points can actually be a big plus, especially for the young-adult demographic.

The reason for this is that many companies which support home working either insist or have a distinct preference for people with wired internet access as it is still more reliable than WiFi (in particular it’s less susceptible to disruption in poor weather).

Because of this there is still very much a place for wired connections alongside WiFi rather than instead of it.

Stick to hard flooring

Hard flooring is easier to keep clean and tenants can add rugs themselves if they want to. Then they’re making an active decision to add something they know they will need to clean and that’s up to them.

When looking at flooring, you may want to think seriously about linoleum. It has the convenience of hard flooring but it relatively soft and therefore offers a bit more comfort and sound insulation, plus it comes in a variety of finishes, including wood.

Provide well-equipped, functional kitchens

The traditional stereotype of the young adult is someone who lives off convenience foods and whose idea of cooking is taking something out of the freezer and putting it into the microwave.

Modern young adults, however, tend to be much more health conscious and also much more budget conscious and hence are far more likely to want to cook at home (or at least to have the option).

They do not, however, necessarily want to wash dishes themselves or to drag themselves to launderettes, so facilities such as dishwashers and washing machines (and ideally tumble dryers) can be a big plus. If you’re going down the HMO route, being able to create a mixture of shared and personal (lockable) storage can be a distinct plus.

Add a decent shower head and attractive taps to the bathroom

Even if your property has a bath, the chances are that it’s the shower and the hand-basin which are going to see the most regular use, so make sure that they’re nice to use.

Shower heads and taps are a really simple and affordable way to make a property both more functional and more appealing.

Mark Burns is the managing director of Manchester estate agent Indlu.

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