Spring clean drives high maintenance bill for landlord
The latest market insight from property management specialist, Rushbrook & Rathbone, suggests that property maintenance spend is set to surge in April, as the annual ‘spring clean’ by landlords saw the month account for the second highest proportion of total annual maintenance spend in 2025, as well as the largest average spend per work order.
Rushbrook & Rathbone’s internal data looked at estimated monthly maintenance spend during 2025, the estimated number of maintenance work orders carried out, and the average spend per work order.*
The data shows that in 2025, maintenance spend during the month of April accounted for 11.5% of the annual total. This meant that April accounted for the largest proportion of annual maintenance spend with the exception of July at 11.6%.
This is despite the fact that fewer actual work orders were submitted in April when compared to many other months. In fact, April accounted for just 7.8% of total work order volumes, making it only the eighth busiest month of the year in this respect.
However, the average spend per work order in April stood at £797, the highest of any month across the year, suggesting that the work being carried out was larger and more substantial in nature.
This points to a desire amongst landlords to get their house in order for the year ahead, using the spring months to tackle larger jobs and address issues that may have arisen over the colder winter period.
Sarah Rushbrook, Founder of Rushbrook & Rathbone, commented:
“Many of us seize on the early spring months as an opportunity to get our homes ship shape and repair any damage caused during the longer and colder winter months.
It is no different when it comes to rental property maintenance.
Whilst the number of maintenance jobs carried out in April is lower than in many other months, the average spend per job is the highest of the year. This highlights that landlords are using the spring period to get their properties back to full working order by tackling fewer, but more substantial, tasks.
The better weather and longer days also make it far easier to undertake works that may have been delayed over winter, particularly where external repairs, redecorating or more disruptive works are involved.
For many landlords, spring is also an important opportunity to ensure that a property is in the best possible condition for the year ahead, whether that is to protect its value, improve the experience for tenants, or prepare it for the busier summer lettings market.”
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