What rating will my property get? eg a new build apartment

When we have been established longer, we will issue the full questionnaire we use when conducting our surveys.  But in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you a sneak preview of something we will be putting on our website - the expected ratings for different types of properties, just so you can judge for yourself what score your properties are likely to achieve.

Here's our first example:
- A typical fairly new, ground floor 1 bed apartment, size around 55 sq m
- in slightly less than average location (taken according to crime rates, affluence rating and socio-demographic statistics);
- assuming it's in perfect structural condition inside and out
- the landlord doesn't pay for any extra facilities

Then our scoring, based on our weighted questionnaire, would result in an average score that just meets the 3* level.

In this case, as the condition is already perfect, if the landlord wanted to increase the rating to 4* or 5*, he/she could provide other facilities which would generally appeal to a tenant and make it more marketable (assuming you tell the potential tenants about them!).  For example:

• extra security eg something as simple as installing a door chain on the main entrance door;
• paying for annual services of boilers, burglar alarms or lifts (assuming it was an upper floor apartment with lift access);
• providing appliances in kitchens - integrated or free standing;
• providing extra facilities in a bathroom - electrical shaver points or even just a vanity unit;
• providing more electrical points and telecommunication facilities - eg pre-installing a sky dish or any installation costs for cable etc;

This particular property is restricted by its size, lack of outside space and location (none of which can be easily remedied) but if all the above ideas were implemented, the score could increase to 4*.

More property types will be discussed on later blog posts.