Attracting a range of tenants.

The UK rental market has never been in a stronger position than it currently enjoys. With more than 11 million people living in five million privately rented properties across the UK, for the first time, the rented sector commands more than a third of households nationwide.

However, such demand for rented properties brings with it new challenges. Chief among which is dealing with the diverse target markets that have emerged in recent times. Renting used to be the realm of the young professional, fresh out of university and looking for somewhere to live while they saved for a mortgage deposit.

This has all changed in the last few years, however, and we now see much more variety in the kinds of people renting privately. From students and young professionals, to families and even older people, there has never been the sort of rental diversity that landlords enjoy in the current climate. But this presents a challenge when it comes to marketing properties. It’s never been more important to know who your target demographic is, and what they want from a home, so that you can tailor listings towards them.

Different groups are looking for different things from a property. Here, we take a look at the key pieces of information you need to include for each group in order to increase your chances in finding the perfect tenant.

Students/young professionals

They might be on the lookout for two very different kinds of properties, but students and young couples or professionals are generally seeking out similar things from those homes. When listing for these groups, it’s important to recognise that lifestyle means a lot.

They want to live close to where they work or study, but they also want to balance that with having good access to entertainment and nightlife, so make sure you always let them know what’s nearby, and how long it takes to get anywhere they might need to go. Also be sure to talk about things like broadband speeds, which are increasingly important to younger demographics.

Families

While young people are looking for all new things from their rented homes, families tend to be a bit more traditional in terms of the information they want to know before they choose to book a viewing. Consider things like work and school as the number one consideration and tailor your marketing towards these for the best chance of success.

Some examples of what families will want to know include the distance to local transport hubs, and how long it will take them to get to the nearest big city, as many families tend to be commuters, and how well local schools perform in inspections and exams. It’s always important to include as much information as possible in these terms to maximise your chance of success.

Older people

Older tenants tend to have a different list of demands again from the other two demographics. Because they are older, for example, they aren’t all that interested in knowing about transport or entertainment, but they do want to know more about the property itself than they need to know about the local area around them.

When marketing a home to older people, emphasise things like the size of the garden, how big the rooms in the property are, and other important things like the environmental rating of the home in order to give yourself the best chance of wowing those potential tenants who visit your listing.