Landlords spend £3.61bn on local economies across the UK, according to Aldermore Bank.

Data collected by the bank found that the average landlord spent £1,443 on local tradesmen in the last 12 months.

It also shows that 81 per cent of landlords used local tradespeople to maintain their rental properties, and 90 per cent of landlords said they intend to continue using or increase the amount they use local services in 2020.

Of the total amount paid to local service providers, landlords spent the most on letting agents coming to £879m in the past twelve months, followed by £442m on general handy-workers and £396m on plumbers.

The bank says that 39 per cent of landlords say trust is the main reason why they turn to local tradespeople to service their properties, while 26 per cent attribute it to them not living close to the rental property.

Aldermore Bank group managing director of retail finance Damian Thompson says: “Landlords are an integral part of local communities across the UK, providing investment and fulfilling the demand of the expanding private rented sector.

“Around every landlord is an ecosystem, in which they pay local tradespeople, like plumbers, builders, decorators, for jobs and those companies in turn train up employees and pay their own local suppliers for services also. The contribution landlords make to local communities extends much wider than merely providing rental accommodation.

“Our findings show supporting local economies also brings benefits to landlords’ own businesses. Local workers bring a lot of value to landlords with respondents to our survey citing in particular the quality work, cost effectiveness and the understanding of local areas as key benefits.”