What renters want to see in room ads

We recently surveyed renters to find out what really matters to them and what they want to see in a room ad. Nearly 700 people took the survey, giving us valuable insight into renters’ preferences.

Here’s what we learnt…
SpareRoom has ads from landlords and agents, but also from homeowners and existing groups of roommates. We thought it would be interesting to see who renters preferred to deal with when they’re responding to ads.

• 63% would rather deal with / see adverts from the landlord
• 57% would rather deal with / see adverts from a resident landlord / live-in-landlord
• 49% would rather deal with / see adverts from the current roommates
• And only 23% would rather deal with / see adverts from an agent/broker

Living with roommates or resident landlords?
We presumed that most renters would rather live with roommates than share with a resident landlord. But you never really know till you ask. The results of this one surprised us a bit.

• 47% said they had no preference
• 27% said they'd rather share with the homeowner
• Only 26% of renters would rather share with roommates

What renters want to see in a room ad
This is probably the most useful bit if you’re going to be advertising a room. You might think you know what’s most important, but what do renters really want to know from your ad?

The top 5 most important things in a room ad are...

• Price of the room (88%)
• Details about the room (83%)
• Utilities included (81%)
• Information about existing roommates (70%)
• Details about the property (66%)

After that, these were also important...

• Quality of the photos (52%)
• Whether it's free to contact (52%)
• Information about the area (50%)
• Who's advertising it (46%)
• Information about transport connections (29%)

So there you have it. If you want some advice on how to find the right roommate (now you’re armed with the facts), check out our tips.