New research from Aldermore reveals the financial boost landlords provide to local economies. Nearly eight out of ten (79%) landlords opt to use tradespeople based near their rental properties, spending on average £6,003 a year each on local services.

The most common services landlords look locally for include electricians (52%), plumbers (50%) and handymen (34%) to sort ongoing maintenance issues with their rental properties.

Meanwhile, many landlords are opting to shop local for a wider variety of professional services. Around one in seven (15%) also opt to use local interior designers and structural engineers, while a similar amount (14%) use local architects.

A desire to support the local economy is the main reason why landlords use local services (37%). Meanwhile a third (34%) shop local because they trust local services. Interestingly, for almost a third of landlords (32%) local tradespeople provide a deeper insight into the local area and, in turn, can give them better advice.

However, in a challenging economic environment, three in five landlords (59%) are looking to downsize their portfolio – as a combination of high interest rates, falling house prices, regulation changes and cost-of-living pressures have made being a landlord unsustainable for some.