Something that is becoming more commonplace as landlords look to improve their offering to attract tenants (and in particular, in the student market) is looking to include certain services as part of the tenancy. Most commonly we are seeing things like cleaners and gardeners added to the deal, in a move that both increases the desirability of the tenancy at the property in question, but also seeks to protect the landlord's investment going forward. The move can be a shrewd one and we often see it come down to being the deciding factor when picking between two similar properties.
Overall, it seems to be a win/win deal, with both parties benefitting, and costs to the landlord tend to be lower than would be expected when taking on a regular service, especially for portfolio landlords looking to introduce a number of properties at once. The question it does leave though is where does it move the line on responsibility?
We sometimes see tenants decide that the provision of a service from the landlord means that they no longer have any responsibility for the upkeep of that aspect of the property. This can lead to some level of shock when problems are pointed out on inspection, or the dreaded discussion around the return of a deposit!
The fact really is that having a cleaner, or a gardener regularly visiting the property, doesn't mean that the tenant gets to completely ignore this aspect of daily life. Generally, a tenancy agreement will still state that the incumbent tenant is responsible for the upkeep of both their garden and the cleanliness of the property overall. Now, having a gardener come along seasonally will really take away a lot of the bigger tasks, but things like cutting the grass will still need to be done. Likewise, with a cleaner, they may take on the bigger tasks, but daily tidying up, dishes, and cleaning surfaces will still have to be kept on top of.
If anything, having these services, should lead to tenants being more able to keep on top of the day-to-day, by avoiding bigger tasks, which is what we see for the most part, and it leads to nicer properties being kept in good order more easily, but we always have the question on responsibility hanging around.
For me, having someone looking in on a property regularly, and tackling bigger tasks can really give peace of mind, whilst also sweetening the deal for the tenant. It certainly seems like there are no losers, and looks to be something that will continue to grow in the residential lettings market.