Today the kitchen is often the heart of your home, the place where all your guests meet up and the hub of your busy life. Isn’t it funny how we’re regularly drawn towards the kitchen when we visit someone’s home, or how people just seem to stay in there when there’s a family gathering or a friend pops round for a drink?
Maybe that’s why more and more kitchens are becoming open plan and more welcoming?
When you let your property, it’s an important factor for your tenants when choosing where to live. The kitchen usually stands right alongside the bathroom as a deal-breaker when it comes to deciding which property is their chosen future home.
So, what should you consider if you’re looking for a professional tenant? Does it matter? And how much of a change are you going to have to make to let your property quickly?
Improve your valuation
Firstly, upgrading your kitchen isn’t just to help your property become more attractive to your tenants; it also raises the rental value of your property. The kitchen is an important factor in the advertising of your property and enhancements could mean an increased rental too.
Open it up
If your space allows, you might want to consider adding some real wow factor with an open-plan breakfast/dining area. Modern life dictates that we’re socialising on the go, and the kitchen is a place where people feel ‘at home’, so having it all open and combined makes sense. It’s also becoming something that tenants looks for in a property.
Brighten it up
Go light and bright with your kitchen units and choose gloss to reflect more of the light if you can. The look and feel of a gloss kitchen will be modern and more suitable to a professional tenant, and also very simple to keep clean. The gloss finish is easier to clean and also shows up the odd spill clearly too, which should encourage a regular quick wipe over and will therefore keep the unit doors and drawer-fronts looking shiny and pristine.
Darken those tops
For your worktops, we’d suggest a darker matt, non-scratch, and hardwearing worktop. This will disguise any scratch marks and also look cleaner for longer, making it lower maintenance for your tenants. With a darker worktop and brighter units, you’ll get a stylish contrast too.
Machine washable
Appliances like a dishwasher, washing machine and even tumble dryer are becoming more standard now. It’s highly recommended that you fit a dishwasher and washing machine if at all possible. If tenants have used these appliances in previous homes, this could be an obvious deal-breaker when there’s a similar property which has them. Additionally, if they haven’t had one before – the dishwasher could just be the ‘wow’ factor they’ve been searching for!
Where to start?
A good kitchen fitter will be able to design a layout to match your criteria. If you’d like to know more, please just ask. We’re well-connected with kitchen experts in our area and know the best people to speak to.
Having a clean and clever design for your kitchen means you’ll get that wow factor and possibly keep your tenants for longer too, as their experience of enjoying the kitchen, and welcoming friends and family, will be far greater.
Enhancing or revamping the heart of your tenant’s home should certainly make your life easier – and your rental property more enticing too!
