There has never been a more important time to attract the best tenants and one way to ensure landlords get the pick of the crop is to know how to make their property appeal to targeted groups.

Anna Kind from King Sturge in Knightsbridge says the trick is to differentiate between the different sorts of people likely to rent your home and determine what they want. “The Italians are very design-led and interested in architecture, younger Europeans want funky places, and the French like good restaurants and patisseries within walking distance.”

She finds the French are either pro or anti Lycée – some are keen to be near
the French school in South Kensington, while others run a mile from SW10 or SW6.

Rebecca Atkins at Brian Lack & Co’s St John’s Wood office believes you can attract Arab tenants if you invest in a new modern building, but it cannot be open plan.

“Arabs, especially in large homes, do not like to watch their staff preparing meals and there must be a separate space for men and women to relax when entertaining,” she points out.

Americans opt for large, spacious homes and definitely prefer period properties with plenty of original features. “The secret to keeping French tenants, however, is mixer taps. They cannot stand separate ones you tend to get in this country and cannot fathom why we still put them into our homes,” adds Atkins.

The vicinity of foreign schools often dictates the nationality of tenants, argues Sophie Curtis, head of Savills’ Fulham lettings department.

“In Fulham, we have a lot of French tenants that send their children to the second French Lycée on Clancarty Road and they want to live within walking distance of the school,” shesays.

Curtis also thinks Europeans, especially the French and the Scandinavians, like wooden floors, while Americans love big fridge-freezers. “French families typically have at least three children and quite small budgets, so they don't mind if properties aren’t newly refurbished. They also seem to cycle a lot, so any storage for bikes goes down well.”

It is important to create a property that captures any tenant’s imagination, says Marlene Kemp from Jackson-Stops & Staff, Holland Park. “Not only will it command higher rent, but it works for a number of years without becoming dated. Allow tenants to stamp their own mark on the property and the right to design for themselves.”

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