Common sense dictates that a happy tenant will respect their rented home, pay their rent on time and stay in the property longer.

A new survey carried out by a Lettings Agency claims that the best area for ‘Happy Smiley Tenants’ is the North East of England, which was where 52% of 2,000 renters involved in the poll, stated that they were pleased with their landlord.

However within the capital tenants’ satisfaction level was in the doldrums with just under 20% of tenants reporting that they were happy with their landlord.

The main grouches for tenants with their landlords were length of time taken to resolve maintenance issues, the low level of customer service, lack of communication as well as inspections and fees.

One London tenant stated that “everything non-essential is ignored”, which was echoed by many others throughout the capital.

Hope McKendrick, letting manager of the agents, said: “We’re always hearing about the ‘best’ and ‘happiest’ places to live in Britain in terms of wellbeing, job satisfaction and availability of good schools, but there’s little research about how happy our renters are and which areas are getting the best service from UK landlords.

“The survey results give us a different perspective on where is the ‘best’ and it appears that our Geordie neighbours are winning in this case!”

Hope continued: “High fees and costs will clearly contribute to the dissatisfaction of renters in the capital.

“However, as the property market in London becomes more and more demanding and saturated, landlords may be overstretched and even less able to respond to tenant needs as well as other regions, adding to their frustrations.”

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