One in four tenants wouldn’t inform a landlord if they had caused significant damage to their rental property, a survey has revealed.

A YouGov survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by property listing website TheHouseShop discovered that 27% of renters would keep any damage from their landlord.

While 15% said they would secretly hire a professional to repair the damage, 11% have enough faith in their DIY skills to attempt to repair the damage themselves – with the landlord none the wiser.

In total, one third of private renters said they would not tell their landlord about significant damage to a property, while tenants renting from local authorities were less likely to try and avoid telling their landlord about damages, with 25% saying they would not report it compared with 33% of private renters and 36% of housing association tenants.

Of the 58% of honest respondents overall who would own up to the damage, 24% said they would offer to pay the full repair bill, 7% would offer a contribution to the repair bill, and 27% would wait and see if they needed to pay anything.

Nick Marr, co-founder of property portal TheHouseShop, said: “While the vast majority of tenants will not actively try to do damage to a property, accidents do happen, and even well-meaning and reliable tenants can end up inflicting significant damage during their tenancy.

“The best advice I could give to landlords would be to encourage an open and honest relationship with their tenants, so that tenants don’t feel scared or nervous about reporting any damages as soon as they happen.”