Making your rental perfect for young families

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Last Updated on May 10, 2023

In today’s world, renting as a family is pretty normal. Not everyone dreams of getting on the property ladder and of course, it’s getting harder and harder to secure owning your own home. If you are a landlord with a property in a suburban area, families could be your perfect target market for your rental property.

There are certain things that any family will be looking for in a rented property. If you are trying to work out whether a family would be well suited to your rental or if you want to make some changes to your property to attract this demographic. 

Table of Contents

Location

Every parent wants to bring their children up in the most suitable area. Quite often, these are quieter towns close to plenty of amenities. Houses in the middle of nowhere or right in the middle of cities possibly won’t appeal.

Parents will be looking for property in nice neighbourhoods in the catchment area of good schools and kindergartens and close to parks, playgrounds and the like. If your property ticks any of these boxes, don’t let it go unnoticed when advertising your property to prospective tenants.

Space

Chances are, the majority of families will be looking for space. This is likely to be pretty high up on their agenda when searching for the perfect rented family home. That doesn’t mean your property needs to be big. After all, families come in all different sizes.

A good family property will have a minimum of 2 bedrooms but 3-4 is the sweet spot. You’ll want to be able to offer plenty of storage, so if you have any empty space under the stairs or any nooks and crannies that can be turned into cupboard space then this would be worthwhile. Similarly, if you have loft space that can be turned into another bedroom or a dining room that could become a playroom then this could also be beneficial.

In a perfect world, you’ll also be able to offer some outside space to park a couple of cars and a garden but these may be more nice-to-have than necessary factors for many parents.

Safety

In order to appeal to families, your property will need to be safe. With this in mind, you may want to make a few changes. For instance, if you have garden space but it is unsecured with falling fences or an unsecured front garden space close to a main road then you may want to replace or add fencing to ensure children are kept safe.

Look around your rental property and put yourself in the shoes of a parent, if you don’t already have children of your own. You might look at large gaps between stair bannisters and realise that they could be a falling hazard for small children, toddlers and babies. You might look at any plug sockets that sit at a child’s height and decide to add socket covers to avoid any little fingers prodding where they shouldn’t. You could also add window locks and safe blind cords too for an extra element of safety that a parent won’t need to worry about installing themselves should they choose to rent your property.

Practical decor

The way you decorate a property changes once you become a parent. Carpets become stain hazards and walls become some sort of easel for creative endeavours! Opt for hard flooring to make spillages easier to deal with. Your tenants can always put down a rug or two of their own to cushion any falls from toddlers grasping the art of walking.

You can also paint your walls with wipe-clean and washable finish paint. Not only will this make it easier for parents to keep their home clean and fresh, but it’ll make life easier for you when refreshing the property for your next tenants later down the line. 

Remember to always ensure that you compare landlord insurance policies to get the best cover when renting to families. There are so many benefits to renting to families but of course, children can cause damage. It’s always a good idea to ensure you’re fully covered.