Hamilton Fraser provides best practice guidance for landlords
Police forces across the country have reported a rising number of rented properties being used to grow cannabis. Purely from Hamilton Fraser’s experience, claims for damage caused by unscrupulous tenants can range from a few thousand pounds to total losses from resultant fire.
To help prevent your rental property from being turned into a cannabis factory we, together with Allianz Insurance, have put together some simple best practice guidance which should either prevent a claim, or will at least demonstrate to an insurer that you have done all that you can do to reduce the risk of a claim.
• Do not accept payment of a deposit or rent in cash and do not accept more than 2 months’ rent in advance. Insist that all payments are made from a Bank Account either by personal cheque from the tenant or bank transfer.
• Ensure premises inspections are undertaken regularly with internal viewing. The National Landlord Association (NLA) advises that this ought to be undertaken every 90 days (or more regularly if the landlord has concerns about the property), provided they give their tenant sufficient notice. These visits can be undertaken on your behalf by a managing agent or by a trusted neighbour, but these visits must be documented and date-verified (e.g. confirmation by email that an inspection had been undertaken would verify the date) as an insurer would ask for evidence of regular inspections in the event of a claim.
• Full References must be obtained for all persons named on the tenancy agreement. These should come from a former employer and previous landlords, or a Tenant Referencing Service. References should always be requested in writing and should be followed up to confirm their legitimacy.
• Wherever possible, get to know or remain friendly with people living in neighbouring properties and ask them to let you know immediately if they notice anything suspicious. Examples of what to look out for are blacked out windows, pungent odours, excessive fortification, overly paranoid behaviour by your tenants, regular visitors at unusual hours, ducting tubes protruding through windows, gas cylinders, bin bags filled with vegetable material or pot-shaped root balls being thrown away or discarded in the garden.
• Sub-letting should not be allowed unless monthly inspections are agreed with the lead tenant. This will ensure that only referenced tenants occupy your premises and will reduce the risk of illegal sub-tenant activities.
