Its that time of year again; you feel a chill in the air and you know that cold wet weather is on the way which will really test your rental property to the limit.  The last thing you want is a phone call from your tenants telling you there’s an emergency just as you’re sitting down to your Christmas dinner.  A few pre-winter precautions can help avoid this situation, or at the very least cut the probability of such a scenario to a minimum.

First off, make sure your landlord’s insurance policy is up to date and covers you for the most common winter risks: storm damage, flood damage, water leaks and of course the biggest risk of all: third parity liability for injuries to others. If a slate or tile blows off your roof and injuries someone your liabilities can be horrendous. You will find a selection of tried and trusted landlord insurance providers.

Next is the all important heating system. For tenants, the efficiency of the heating system has the most significant impact on their overall perception, enjoyment and cost of the house in winter. Whatever type of heating is provided it should be efficient, safely designed and economical to run.  As a landlord it is in your interests in the long term, and soon it will be a legal requirement, that energy efficiency in rental properties meets a minimum standard.

Insulation

Having an efficient heating system without good insulation is like pouring money down a drain: your tenant’s are not going to appreciate a rental property where drafts and poor insulation lose all the heat they are paying for. If you own older rental properties, especially those with solid walls, where it’s impossible to put in cavity wall insulation, you should think about ways of insulating which will bring up the energy rating in time for the requirement to exceed rating to be demanded by law in 2018. From April 2018, landlords will no longer be able to let buildings with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of below E without demonstrating that all cost-effective measures to improve Energy Efficiency have been implemented.

The Winter Checks

There are lots of common sense straightforward things you can do to a property to improve its energy saving qualities and make sure your property is fit for winter. You need not tackle all these points at once but you can build them into a longer term maintenance programme.

Internal

• Insulate lofts and roof spaces – this is really inexpensive to do and one of the most effective ways of improving heat retention in a home.
• If the property has old and draughty ill fitting windows and doors you need to consider replacing them. This will increase the security of the property at the same time.
• Draught proof all existing external doors and windows, but remember open-flue gas appliances need an air flow, which should by preference be under floor.
• Make sure that water pipes likely to be exposed to frost, particularly those outside the insulated envelope, such as outside stand pipes, roof space and crawlspace piping are properly insulated so as to prevent busts in really could weather.
• If there is a water tank in the loft, make sure that it is inside the insulated envelope by removing an insulation material underneath it and preferably by building an insulated box around it. This allows heat from below to rise reaching the tank, which will stop the water freezing in cold weather.
• If there is a hot water cylinder in the property make sure is has a good insulating jacket fitted.
• Bleed all radiators from time to time to ensure they can work efficiently when any air has been removed from them. It’s also a good idea to have all radiators fitted with thermostatic values (not too expensive these days) so that individual room’s temperatures can be independently controlled.
• Make sure any gas flues and outlets cannot block with snow and freeze over which could cause a health hazard with carbon monoxide. Think about fitting a carbon monoxide sensor in the property for your tenant’s safety.
• Boiler overflow pipes have a habit of freezing-up on some models which will prevent the boiler functioning just when it’s needed in really cold weather.
• Be sure to tell your tenants the location of water and gas stop taps, plus the electrical system isolation switches. If there are any busts and leaks a lot of damage can be prevented if the flow is stopped quickly. This information and much more should be included in a tenant’s information pack which you provide to all your tenants.
• Think about cavity wall insulation, or where there are solid stone or brick walls, consider internal or external insulated cladding. Treating external masonry with silicon waterproofing not only prevents water penetration and damp, it reduces energy loss in solid wall by preventing heat loss through latent heat water evaporation.

External

• Check the roof, walls and chimney stacks for any signs of missing or loose slates, tiles or pointing and any damp patches. A loose stretch of pointing on the ridge for example, can result in a whole section of your roof disappearing in high winds, resulting in expensive internal damage and severe disruption for your tenants. A damp patch on an external wall will result in decaying masonry and will eventually penetrate to inside, so investigate and get the cause put right.
• Check all outside guttering, downspouts and surface drains for leaks, blockages and debris – clear out any leaves or other debris before the heavy rain comes. This will reduce the risks of leaks and blockages and ice forming on walkways during freezing weather.
• Check external walkways for obstructions, leaves and debris where people could fall over them and clear them away. If necessary provide automatic external lighting to make walkways safe.
• Make sure outbuildings and external doors and gates are secure and safe from blowing open in high winds.

Condensation and Mould

Condensation is a problem in many homes, even new ones, particularly in the winter months. It’s inevitable though that older properties will suffer most, especially those with solid masonry walls.

Over time any condensation present will result in black mould patches on walls, particularly in the colder and highest rooms in the house like bedrooms and bathrooms where mould will start to form.  Mouldy smelling clothes in the bedroom wardrobes are often a first sign.

Condensation is a complex systemic problem which many people confuse with dampness. More often than not condensation is caused by the lifestyle of the occupants rather than anything that’s fundamentally wrong with the property, though poor insulation, inadequate heating systems and no ventilation will contribute to it.

These main causes of condensation in rented properties, Inadequate heating – particularly common in rented properties where occupants often try to save money by having little or no heating on during most of the day time, especially if they are out all day working. Not only is this false economy, as it costs more to get the place up to temperature from scratch, than it does to leave the heating on low, it results in very cold surfaces where water condenses on contact. Lack of ventilation – production of lots of steam from cooking, bathing and washing / drying clothes without ventilating it at source results in hot steam laden air rising and condensing on any could surface. Bathrooms and kitchens should have good extractors to remove steam at source.

What can you do to reduce Condensation?

Providing you have taken the necessary precautions with your property and brought it up to a reasonable standard of energy efficiency this should take care of most eventualities. However, you may need to educate your tenants.

Provide enough heating

• Keep the heating on low during the day time to maintain a minimum temperature. Overall it costs less to leave the heating at a low temperature rather than having to bring the temperature up from cold when you need it on.
• When tenants leave a property unoccupied over the winter period a minimum level of heating should be provided to prevent freezing of pipes etc. Most insurance policies will specify that the insurer must be informed if the property is left vacant for more than 30 days.
• If the heating cannot be left on in cold winter spells the main heating and water systems should be turned off and drained down. Remember to install new inhibitor in the heating system when it is refilled – this protects the internals of boilers and radiators from rusting and scaling.
• Maintaining a minimum temperature throughout the property will ensure that walls, clothes and fabrics will always be warm and will not absorb moisture from the air causing condensation and mould.

Ventilate a source to remove moisture

• When a room is in use, keep a trickle vent open – moisture enters the air from people breathing.
• If necessary provide ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens to vent steam at source. Automatic extractor fans are best which will prevent cold through excessive ventilation and will only operate when the air moisture content reached a pre-determined level.
• Keep the doors to bathrooms and kitchens doors closed even when they have extractor fans.

Provide ventilation in cupboards and wardrobes. Don’t overfill wardrobes so that air can circulate around clothes. It’s a good idea to cut holes in the back panel of wardrobes and keep them a few centimetres from the wall.  When possible locate wardrobes against internal walls – outside walls are always the coldest.