Millennial Renting: What do renters look for in 2018?

My partner and I have private rented two houses in the past before buying our current home. The first house we lived at for 6 months and the second house we lived there for just over 2 years. When we rented our first house, there were a few ‘rules’/guidelines’ by the landlord such as no decorating as in no painting and no holes in walls. This limited our plans to try and make the house feel more like home, but we did know that in the long run, it wasn’t really worth to spend as we knew that we wanted to move to a bigger house.

Our second rented house was bigger and we had no intention of moving out. Again, we were told not to decorate, but if we wanted to paint the walls or hang photos up, we could, as long as would fill the holes and re-paint back to its original colour before we moved out. We did do a few changes by painting walls and making it feel more like home. But we still felt quite restricted on what we could do.

We feel fortunate that we have been able to buy our home. However, there are many millennials out there who are renting their homes and if I was still renting or looking for a house to rent there are a few things I’d definitely look into before signing a contract again. Of course, being a landlord can be quite scary too as you do need to find the right tenant for your home. Landlords can get insurance from homelet.co.uk/landlord-insurance who will help support you on your landlord journey.

Here I’ve listed a few things that millennials will look for before renting a house:

Storage: Many millennials travel on a bike to work/see friends/town, having some storage outside or inside can help massively.

Decorate: Being able to decorate the house is probably a big must for many, especially if they are looking into renting long term. Although it’s a rented house, it’s still nice to be able to make the house a home. Whether that’s wallpapering, painting or hanging photos up on the wall. Being able to have a choice to decorate or not will probably interest more people.

Pet-Friendly: I have heard many people back out from renting houses main reason being that they were not allowed to take their pets with them. For many, pets are family, and they are not willing to give their pets up. So having a house that’s pet-friendly will gain a lot more interest.

Gardens: Whether it’s a family, couples, singles or students looking to rent a house. I am sure many will be looking for a reasonable garden. Having a decent size garden will attract a lot more interest than a house with no garden at all.

Email/Text: Millenials these days are all for the texting instead of the phone calls. Having a choice of being able to discuss certain things over a text or email might interest some millennials as many don’t like talking over the phone.

Parking: Having a parking space nearby the house is a big plus for any renter who’s got a car or/and work van/car.

I’ve asked a few other fellow bloggers to see what they would look for when renting a house, here’s what they said:

Lyndsey from mehimthedogandababy said: "Signs of damp. Feel the walls as you look around and make sure there is plenty of ventilation"

Laura from Five Little Doves said: "I would look for a good state of repair so you can be reassured the landlord is providing a decent service!"

Kat from Raising Harry said: I've lived in a house without central heating and NEVER AGAIN, especially now I'm a Mum"

Katie from Mummys Diary said: "Storage space as we have two children, off road parking or not on a main rain, seperate living and kitchen area."

Emma from Mums Savvy Savings said: I would want to know what I'm allowed to do - can I paint rooms?

Lianne from Ankle Biters Adventures said: "Have they got a boiler cover with British Gas- as you are guaranteed someone can be called out if you are without heating or hot water"

Katy from Katy Kicker said: "I'd look for a garden! Well maintained that I was allowed to plant in"

Sarah from Mummy Cat Notes said: "If they allowed pets, we have a cat and I would be heartbroken if we couldn't take him with us."

What would you look for if you were renting a house? 

* This is a collaborative post.