Nobody likes to be shouted at.

That’s certainly not the reason you became a landlord either.

But dealing with gripes and grumbles from your tenants is sadly part and parcel of the whole “being a landlord” thing.

So how do you keep complaints to a minimum and, more importantly, how should you respond when they do happen? (Because they are going to happen, you know.)

In this 101 guide, we’ll run through the sorts of complaints that you’ll probably receive at one point or another, prevention, and how you should respond every time. You’ll be a complaints wizard in no time.

What do tenants tend to complain about?

All sorts of stuff. We once heard of a tenant complaining about the volume of some fireworks once. Seriously. But here are the more common sorts of complaints you could expect to receive. We’ll talk about how to deal with them in the following section.

Pest control

If you got your tenancy agreement right at the get-go and an infestation’s been caused by a tenant (think pets bringing in fleas) then you shouldn’t be responsible for the problem. But if it’s a chance infestation (like a wasp’s nest or carpenter ants), you’re going to need to get pest control involved.

Home damages

However the damage has been caused, you’ll probably hear about it from your tenant. Problems caused by bad weather or (heaven forbid!) natural disasters, should be covered by your insurance. If the tenant’s responsible? That’ll be a deposit deduction.

Maintenance issues

From time to time an emergency maintenance request will crop up and you’ll need to deal with it sharpish. Maybe a pipe’s burst and flooded the property, or the heating’s not working during the darkest depths of a chilly winter.

Rent increases

Nobody likes to see their rent go up, but if you give enough notice (and only do it at the point of renewal) then you’re perfectly within your rights.

Noisy neighbours

As you can imagine, it’s pretty hard to control the disruption other people make without actually living at the property, but there are things you can do. Click here to read our tips specifically aimed at dealing with noisy neighbours.

Prevention is better than cure

As with most things in life, if you get things right from the start, you’ll find you have fewer problems to deal with later down the line.

In property, that means doing thorough referencing and getting to know as much as you can before bringing tenants into your properties. Comprehensive background checks will narrow your applicant pool down so that you’re left with the highest quality tenants.

And it’s just as important that you make sure your tenancy agreements account for complaints. The terms should cover every eventuality that might give a tenant cause to complain at some point during their time in your property.

That way, you’ve got something to fall back on if you just can’t make headway using the tips and pointers we’ll go through next…

Handling complaints peacefully

Here’s the long and short of it. The more open you are and the better you listen, the easier you’ll find it to resolve complaints from tenants.

Whatever your tenants are grumbling about, if you respond professionally, calmly and consistently, you should be ok. Here’s how you do it.

1. Be there

If you’re not accessible, your tenant’s going to get grumpy. At the start of the tenancy, give your tenant clear instructions about how and when to contact you to talk about a problem.

It’s fine to keep general contact to working hours on weekdays, but do make sure you have an emergency plan in place in case something happens and they genuinely need a response ASAP.

2. Listen

Don’t go in all guns blazing and assume that your tenant is overreacting to something small or telling you something you already know.

It’s crucial that you listen carefully to the issue, validate the problem and show your tenant that you’re understanding. Ask follow-up questions to make sure you’ve gleaned exactly what the problem is too.

3. Affirm

Always thank your tenant for telling you about a problem, and let them know it’s important to you. If they know that you’re working for them, not against them, and that you’re doing your best to find a solution, they should give you the space you need to make that happen.

4. Stay professional

Sometimes, tenants are angry. It might not be your fault, and it might even be second nature to shout back. But don’t. Keep your cool, stay professional and off to help resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

5. Action

Now that you’ve been nice and shown your tenant that you’re there to help them, don’t forget to actually do something about their complaint! Deal with the concern as quickly as possible and keep them updated with progress reports throughout the process.

If your tenant can recognise that you’ve listened and found the best solution for them, they’re going to be a whole lot happier about the tenancy. And the better your relationship is going forward, the more likely you are to keep rent coming in and maintain the condition of your property.

What to do when you can’t resolve an issue

If your tenant’s repeatedly complaining about things that aren’t your responsibility or which you really can’t do much about, like an infestation that they’ve caused or damage that they’ve created, you might have to end up offering notice.

Before it gets to that stage though, gently remind your tenant of the break clauses in the tenancy agreement, and the notices they’d need to provide before vacating the property, if that’s what they want to do.

While it sucks that you’ll have an inevitable void period and have to go through the process of finding new tenants again, in the long-run, it really is better to have higher quality tenants in your property.

When to get help

Dealing with complaints is a delicate issue and there’s a lot to think about. And the more accessible and gentler you are in your approach, and the faster you respond, the better you’ll be able to resolve them.

But if dealing with this stuff feels like one too many jobs on your long to-do list, don’t be afraid to use a property management service.

At Hello Owl, we offer an exhaustive pre-tenancy process that provides major peace of mind that you won’t get caught out legally later down the line. It’s called Hatch Docs, and it focuses on the pre-tenancy process, including referencing, deposits, tenancy agreements, inventories and more.

And if you want help with the entire running of your property and portfolio, with things like tenant complaints taken completely off your hands, then we should talk about property management. At Hello Owl, we work as a back office for investors and developers, just without the payroll.

So if you want to talk about turning your property back into an investment instead of a time-drain, call 020 3432 3888 or send a hello to

he***@he******.uk











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