You want easier property management? Then let out to ...

A trade body says it has evidence that families take up the least amount of property management time when compared to other types of tenants.

The evidence come from more than 1,000 responses to the latest quarterly landlord research panel from the National Landlords Association which asked them to estimate how much time they spent on property management, including dealing with tenant queries, property maintenance requests, and general business administration.

The findings show that landlords who rent to families and young couples spend on average one full working day a week - eight hours - on property management.

In contrast - and using an example that has been called ‘gross’ on social media - the NLA suggests that landlords who let to migrant workers or benefit recipients, or landlords who have executive lets, can expect to spend up to 12 hours per week.

Regionally, landlords in the North West of England spend almost twice as much time per week (10 hours) managing their business than landlords with properties in the South East of England (five and a half hours).

The findings also show that those buy to let investors with mortgages spend on average three and a half hours extra per week on property management compared to those who are mortgage-free (eight and a half hours versus five hours); and those with energy efficient properties (EPC rating of D or above) spend two hours less per week on property management.

“Families make good, reliable, and long-term tenants, but some landlords can be put off by the perceived risk of more damage or wear and tear to the property or its contents. However, if you’re properly maintaining the property then tenants will be more likely to stay for longer anyway, particularly families who typically seek more stability. This is just one more argument for establishing a proper maintenance schedule in the first place” according to Richard Lambert, chief executive of the association.

“Landlords who rent to migrant workers or provide executive lets may find it takes up more management time because there’s a greater churn of tenants which means re-marketing the property, drawing up tenancy agreements, and conducting property viewings more regularly”.

The NLA also says that another big cause for concern is that those in receipt of benefits take up more management time for landlords.

“The combination of welfare cuts and the introduction of Universal Credit make it difficult for some benefit recipients to keep up with rental payments and that often means taking more time for the landlord to manage. It’s frustrating for everyone because the issues can be outside the control of both tenants and landlords” insists Lambert.