Making rented homes better with behavioural interventions

Towards the end of 2023, we were approached by Leeds City Council’s private housing team with a challenge. Could we create a series of pilots to change the behaviour of landlords in Leeds, with the ultimate goal of raising standards in the private rented sector? 

We were of course excited by the challenge - landlords weren’t an audience we had worked with before, and there was lots to get our teeth stuck into. 12 months, 4 trips to Leeds, 1 extensive insights phase and many many hours of hard work later and we now have 3 pilots out there in the wild. So, let me tell you about them!

Property MOT Month

This intervention was all about normalising a month of the year for private landlords to make all-important checks on their rental properties - to drive up property standards, take away the onus on tenants to spot and report issues, and give landlords the ability to catch problems before they become larger and more expensive. 

We developed vibrant, eye-catching messaging that centred on seven simple checks landlords could make on their properties. These seven checks were designed to chunk down the inspection process and make it feel more manageable and easy for landlords. They were displayed on billboards, digital screens, bus rears and even digital radio across Leeds’ streets, shopping centres, and the train station. These prompted action, as well as directed landlords to our microsite, from which they could download our checklist and access exclusive perks. 

Tenancy Take-Off Toolkit

Positive relationships between landlords and tenants help tenancies feel more secure for both parties, and pave the way for better communication should any issues arise. So, we created an intervention to help foster these positive relationships. Introducing… the Tenancy Take-Off Toolkit: designed for landlords to give to their tenants at the beginning of their tenancy, containing lots of useful information like bin days, meter locations, what to do if there’s a problem and how to prevent condensation.

The toolkit itself helps to build positive relationships as it allows tenants to understand how best to look after their home, and answers common queries (therefore avoiding unnecessary communications and potential conflict). To maximise impact, we also encouraged landlords to deliver the toolkit at a welcome meeting (forming the basis for the conversation). Encouraging landlords and tenants to meet face-to-face can help them begin to build rapport and empathy for one another’s situations, and therefore more positive relationships and tenancies.

Check out our toolkit for yourself at https://tenancytakeoff.uk 

Hazard Perception for Landlords

And, hot off the press: an interactive online experience, challenging landlords to spot hazards dotted around a real rental property in Leeds. When they spot a hazard, they’re presented with more information about what it is and how to fix it. Once landlords have taken the tour of the house and garden, they are presented with their results and any hazards they missed are highlighted.

This one is all about challenging landlords’ perceptions of their own abilities to spot common issues, and surprising them with any that they miss - with the aim of them reflecting on the condition of their own rental property.

Why not try it for yourself? https://findthehazard.uk 

As with all of our interventions, we are undertaking robust evaluation to understand the impact of these pilots. We are eagerly awaiting results from our independent evaluator, and should have these in the first half of 2025 - so keep your eyes peeled!

We have loved working on this project and delving deep into a topic we hadn’t explored before. If you have a behavioural challenge - whether it’s new to us or not - we’d love to hear about it.