What makes a good tenant? A landlord's guide to spotting one before they move in

What makes a good tenant? A landlord's guide to spotting one before they move in hero

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When a property is sitting empty, the temptation is obvious. Take the first applicant who seems pleasant, can pay the deposit, and wants to move in quickly. Get someone in, get the rent coming, done.

But the tenant who moves in fast and leaves in a year costs you far more than the one who took a little longer to find and then stayed for years. Empty months, re-letting, referencing all over again, the wear of another move, it adds up every time someone leaves. The most valuable thing a landlord can now get right isn't filling the property quickly. It's choosing the right tenant before they ever move in.

What a good tenant actually looks like

Ask most people what makes a good tenant, and they'll say the same thing: someone who pays the rent. That matters, of course, but it's only the start.

The tenants who work out best are the ones the property genuinely suits, who settle in rather than treat the place as a stopgap. They look after the home as if it were their own, flag a small problem before it becomes a big one, and pick up the phone when something needs sorting. It's worth looking past "can they pay the deposit?" to the question that predicts a good let: "will they stay, and will they look after the property while they're here?" A tenant who does both is worth far more over the years than one who cleared a credit check on day one.

What to look for before they move in

Start with affordability, properly understood. A credit "pass" only tells you someone has paid other things in the past, not that this rent is comfortable for them now. A common guide is that rent should sit at no more than around a third of a tenant's income, so it's worth doing that sum yourself rather than trusting a tick in a box. A tenant for whom the rent is a genuine stretch on day one is the one most likely to fall behind when an unexpected bill lands.

Then look at stability. How long were they in their last home, and their last job? Someone who stays put in life tends to stay put in a tenancy. Frequent short moves aren't automatically a problem, there are good reasons for them, but they're worth a friendly question.

One tip worth knowing: the most honest reference often comes from the landlord before last, not the current one. A current landlord who wants a tenant gone has every reason to give them a glowing review to help them on their way. The landlord before that has no such reason, so their answer tends to be straighter. Either way, the questions that matter are simple: did they pay on time, did they look after the property, and would you let to them again?

Pay attention to how someone communicates during the viewing and application, too. Are they straightforward, responsive, and open with information, or vague and slow to provide what's asked? How someone behaves before they're your tenant is usually a fair preview of how they'll behave once they are.

None of these is a pass-or-fail test on its own. Taken together, they turn "they seemed nice and could pay the deposit" into a genuine, considered picture of whether someone will be a good tenant.

Referencing: the check no landlord should cut

If choosing the right tenant is the goal, referencing is how you get there, and it's one corner we won't cut.

A good reference goes well beyond a quick credit pass. It means checking that the rent is genuinely affordable for the applicant, not just that they've cleared a threshold. It means confirming their employment is real and stable. And it means looking properly into how an applicant has treated a previous property and whether they paid on time. A glowing applicant on paper isn't always a good tenant in practice, and it's far better to find that out before they move in than after.

Matching the right tenant to the right property

Here's the part that's easy to overlook. Even a tenant who passes every check can still be the wrong tenant, if the property doesn't genuinely suit their life.

A tenant whose needs match the home has every reason to settle and stay. Knowing the local area well means understanding which homes suit which tenants, the flat that's right for a professional who needs to be near the station, the house that works for a family who need certain schools nearby. Being honest with a landlord when an applicant isn't the right fit matters too, even though saying yes would fill the property faster, because a tenant who takes a home when nothing better was available leaves the moment something better comes along. Getting the match right is slower. It's also how you end up with a tenant who stays.

Why this matters more than it used to

Getting the choice right has always been sensible. Since the Renters' Rights Act changed the law, it's essential.

The change didn't only make bad tenants harder to remove. It made choosing the right one at the start the most important thing a landlord does. The quick route to ending a tenancy has gone, and removing the wrong tenant is now slow and costly, often taking the better part of a year. You can no longer rely on ending a difficult tenancy quickly, so the one moment that's genuinely in your hands is before anyone moves in. Choosing well at the start isn't just good practice any more. It's your best protection.

What this looks like with us, and why it pays off

This is exactly how we approach lettings. We're an independent, owner-led agent, with local teams across Berkshire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire who reference carefully and place the right tenant rather than the first one through the door. The person choosing your tenant is a real, local person who knows the area and answers the phone when you call, not a call centre working through a list.

A good landlord and tenant relationship works best when the right match is made from the start, and that's what we aim for on every property we let. It's slower, sometimes, than simply filling a property. But it's why our tenants stay an average of 3 years and 3 months, and many stay longer. A good tenant, well chosen and well looked after, is the difference between a property that quietly earns its keep and one that keeps costing you.

If you'd rather not carry the risk of that decision alone, that's exactly what we're here for. Many landlords use an agent only to collect the rent and handle the choosing themselves, but the choosing is now the part that matters most. Book a management review with our lettings team, and we'll be straight with you about your property, your tenants, and how we'd find you one worth keeping. Because letting should feel like an investment, not a second job.