Nearly half of tenants live with unaddressed maintenance issues

Nearly half of tenants live with unaddressed maintenance issues

9:57 AM, 28th January 2023, About A year ago

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Nearly half of the UK’s ‘non-freehold tenants’ (meaning tenants or leaseholders living in flats/apartments) are living with outstanding maintenance issues in their homes, according to a new report.

The findings from management software company Zutec reveals that 47% of those tenants could be living in unsafe circumstances due to unaddressed maintenance issues.

Researchers found that only four in 10 tenants feel completely safe in their homes

More needs to be done for tenants to feel safe

According to the data, 63% of tenants felt their issues weren’t addressed promptly after they had raised them.

The most common maintenance issues raised were broken doors and windows (42%), mould and fungus (39%), leaks or damaged floors (36%) and walls and ceilings (36%).

Maria Hudson, chief marketing officer at Zutec, said: “Despite landlords spending billions on repairs, it’s clear from our research that more needs to be done for non-freehold tenants to feel safe in their homes. Supply chain issues and skills shortages are an ongoing issue for asset owners.

“However, as the sector faces tougher pressure to meet health and safety measures and new and updated regulatory requirements, such as Building Safety Act 2022, they need to think differently about how they address these issues.”

40% of non-freehold tenants said communication from asset owner was excellent

According to the survey, 40% of tenants said communication and information provision from their asset owner was ‘excellent’ – a 22% improvement on 2021 levels.

However, 35% said communication was fragmented, inconsistent and lacked detailed information when it came to maintenance.

Ms Hudson said technology could help provide asset owners with building maintenance.

She added: “A greater understanding of digital tools is needed to galvanise action. The right solutions and technology to develop, collate and then surface the right building information will provide a valuable resource for maintenance, repairs upgrades, retrofits and communication back to tenants, while also supporting their path to compliance.”


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