What do landlords and tenants really think about each other?

The stereotypical image of a tight-fisted, uncaring and immoral landlord (think Rigsby from Rising Damp) is refreshingly untrue according to a new report.

Contrary to popular belief, Britain's landlords are actually a nice bunch, according to a new report from by Saga Home Insurance. 77% of UK tenants polled rated their current landlord as "good" or "excellent", with just 8% giving their landlord a "poor" rating.

The study also highlighted the main grievances encountered by both landlords and their tenants. Hard-to-reach landlords came out on top as the biggest problem for tenants with 23% citing this as their top gripe, poor quality tradesmen used for repairs was a close second place on 21% and refusal to tend to repairs was third on 17%.

As you would expect, the biggest complaint from landlords was late rent payments (38%), closely followed by damage to the property on 32% and tenants who did a 'moonlight flit' vacating the property with little or no notice got 20% of the vote.

Regardless of the vast majority of landlords maintaining that they are always ethical (72% - which means 28% must have admitted they are not!), over half of tenants polled (56%) felt that their landlord should to do more to help them.

Many landlords understand the value of a quick response to an enquiry (55%), or having home emergency cover that the tenant can call upon 24/7 (32%). However, only 19% felt alternative accommodation should be provided when a property is made uninhabitable by an insured event such as flooding or fire.

Sue Green, Head of Home Insurance, Saga comments on the findings:

"Disagreements between landlords and their tenants are well documented so it is refreshing to see that landlords are, for the large part, ethical and well-liked by their tenants. During what has been a tough economic climate, landlords' reputations have suffered and as our research shows, unfairly so.

This doesn't mean that more cannot be done which is why we have released our guide providing practical advice to landlords to help them improve their ethical credentials. Anyone who is a landlord should consider whether there might be more that they could do to make things easier for their tenants, which will be beneficial to all involved."

Miss Jones would be thrilled.

Article originally written by Warren Lewis and appeared in propertyreporter.co.uk