By Steve Roulstone
One of the roles of my position as Franchisor is to hold regular update meetings with other Castle Estate Franchisees. At a meeting held this week with a relatively new Franchisee an issue was raised that every agent has to deal with at one time or another and no matter which way a landlord wishes to get round the problem, leaving white goods and some furniture at a property will always remain a Landlords responsibility and my advise has always been simple – don’t!
White goods.
Once left at the start of a Tenancy, there is no clever way to stop white goods being either the responsibility of the Landlord or the subject of a dispute if and when it breaks down! I have spoken to so many Landlords who believe that by leaving a fridge their property will be more attractive to any potential Tenant. The truth is it is not and in simplistic terms, why worry? If an incoming Tenant cannot afford a fridge themselves, then they are probably not the Tenant the Landlord would wish for their house in the first place (Not including a cooker of course, which should always be supplied!)Plus what happens to the fridge they already own? Better remove both the goods and the responsibility in the first place.
Fitted white goods.
Now we have a situation where there is no simple answer, as fitted goods need to be maintained (and that does include the Dishwasher!) and when removed the property becomes less attractive. We need to think what our own reaction would be to being told we need to find our own washing machine for that hole in the cupboard? Of course this will be white goods we would probably never be able to use again, as fitted white goods are either smaller in depth or may not look pretty when installed without the cupboard surrounding it! Now be honest, would we seriously purchase our own in these circumstances?
Part Furnished.
Now we come to the worst of all scenarios, as I can absolutely guarantee, that should we find a Tenant who does need a three piece suite and a double and single bed first time round (providing of course that it meets safety requirements) we will not second time. Eventually you will end up removing all furniture as Tenants come along with their own bed and three piece, so rather than reduce the market to whom the house is acceptable, my advice is always remove all furniture now, for unless it is fully furnished (which is still a very small percentage of the overall market ) the furniture you do wish to leave will end up being a problem earlier or later in the lifetime of the rented property.
Simple solution
In the end the advice to the Franchisee has not changed since I carried out the role myself, where possible remove white goods and furniture. Where it is to the detriment of the property, leave them but accept responsibility for maintenance. As far as furniture is concerned, unless fully furnished, remove all furniture from day one and make the property more acceptable to more of the market. All said with one rider – where the Landlord insists, we carry out our customers wishes!
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