How can landlords increase the rental value of their properties?

As a landlord, you want to be able to get the best possible value from your rental property. Whether you want to increase value as you’ve been wondering “how can I sell my house fast?” or you want to boost the rental charges of the property, there are several things that you can do.

1. Renovate kitchens and bathrooms

Worn, out-dated kitchens and bathrooms will dramatically affect your property value and result in a lower rental yield, so if you’re looking to do some updating and refresh the place, these are the perfect places to start.

Having newly renovated kitchens and bathrooms not only mean you can increase the rental costs, but they will attract tenants and mean you’ll likely find a tenant much faster than you would if these rooms were old-fashioned and unattractive. Along with this, you’ll often find long-term tenants, meaning you don’t have to keep assessing new potential renters. Long-term tenants are much more reliable and ensure that you’ve got money consistently coming from the property, building your profit.

• Keep on top of the maintenance

A big reason that property loses its value is due to poor upkeep, and especially in the case of rental homes, keeping the place up-to-date and attractive is incredibly important to develop its value. Kerb appeal can play a big part of this – even if a house is beautiful on the inside, if the exterior is lacking it puts renters off and can lower your value.

Making sure that the interior and exterior look its very best at all times will allow you to have a higher rental value. It will also encourage your tenants to treat the place better, which is vital to landlords. Houses that aren’t looked after well will often result in tenants doing the same which can result in damage and a drop in the value, so stay on top of any maintenance that needs doing to avoid this.

• En-suites

For HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) properties, adding en-suites is a great way of increasing the rental costs of those who benefit from it. It will depend on the size of the property and the logistics, but being able to offer multiple rooms with en-suites can increase your monthly income as well as make the house more desirable to future tenants.

Adding en-suites can also be effective in other rental homes, but are the most successful in HMO’s as there are more people to accommodate, giving them their much-needed private space. It’s beneficial to still have a shared bathroom too, to avoid guests having to walk through people’s rooms when needing to use the facilities. A lot of landlords will choose to add en-suites to the bigger rooms in the house and increase the rent there, while the other rooms have a slightly lower rate and use the shared bathroom.

• Outside space

Properties with gardens or balconies have always been a great option that generates a lot of interest, but after the last year this space has become even more valuable for tenants. Making the most of these outside areas will increase value, allowing for a higher rent.

Doing some work to gardens, especially any that are overgrown and don’t look very welcoming, will offer more space for the tenant justifying a higher rental cost. You can either maintain this area yourself, hire a gardener to keep it looked after, or hand it over to the tenant to look after which can be a huge positive for renters wanting to develop a green space. Make sure to include in the contract whose responsibility it is to look after the garden to avoid any disputes down the line.

• Offer it furnished

Offering a property that’s fully furnished allows you to increase your rental charges as your tenant is not only paying for the space, but to use the items as well. Furnished properties are hugely favoured for those who are moving out for the first time and don’t have a lot of furniture, as well as it making it easier to move in as they’ll have less to carry.

While renting out a property furnished can cost more at the start when you’re getting the items, it pays off well and will often attract more tenants, especially if the furniture is in good condition. Some landlords prefer to offer a part-furnished accommodation, still meaning you can have a slightly higher rental charge without having to fully furnish the place.

There are plenty of ways that you can increase the value of your rental property and build your rental yield, and get you seeing a profit even faster!