Tenants Winter Tips & Looking After Your Rental Property
Winter is well and truly on its way and, according to some experts, it’s set to be an extra frosty one. Now is a good time to prepare your property for the winter months ahead and know who to contact in the event of an emergency.
Tip 1 - Find Your Stop Cock Location
Make a note of where your stop tap is located, in the event of a leak or burst pipe you should turn the stop tap off immediately before calling your landlord or letting agent. It is important that everyone who lives in your household is aware of its location. If you are unsure how to switch the water supply off you should contact your landlord or letting agent.
Tip 2 - Damp & Condensation
Between the months of November & March we get lots of calls from tenants reporting damp, when we investigate these reports in many instances condensation has been mistaken for damp. Condensation is caused when warm air collides with cold surfaces, or when there’s too much humidity in your home. Their are a couple of measures you can put in place to reduce the risk of condensation occurring in your property:
1. Place lids on pans and use your extractor hood when cooking, you should also close the kitchen door to prevent steam going into colder rooms.
3. Make sure that if you have a extractor fan in your bathroom it is switched on, tenants have a tendency to switch them off from the isolation switch, usually found above the bathroom door.
4. If your windows are wet on the inside of a morning it is important that you wipe away the moisture which has gathered as soon as possible. Even when it is cold outside you still need to ventilate your property by opening windows and vents daily, failure to do so could lead to condensation mould growth.
Tip 3 - Are You Insured ?
Do you have adequate insurance to cover your personal possessions ? Your landlord is only responsible for insuring the building and any of his or her own personal possessions within the property. If their was a burglary and your items were stolen or if your possessions where damaged in the event of a leak for example you would need to make a claim on your own contents insurance policy.
>> Get a contents insurance quote
Tip 4 - Heating & Radiators
You should try to keep your heating at a consistent temperature to help prevent condensation and to stop pipes from freezing and bursting. If your property has gas central heating and you haven’t done so already, now might be a good time to turn on your boiler and check the radiators in your rental property get hot. Chances are that if they’re colder at the top than they are at the bottom, air is trapped inside them. By bleeding them, you release the built up air, allowing the radiator to work better and also save money for your tenants on their energy bills.
Tip 5 - Emergencies
Do you know who to contact in the event of an emergency in your rental property ? You should make a note of who to contact and their telephone number should something go wrong. If your property is not managed by a letting agent and you deal directly with your landlord you would need to call them direct - Make a note of their telephone number now, or if you have lost it give you agent a call.
If your property is managed by Liverpool Residential, in the event of a emergency you should call:
During office hours: 0151 322 2003
Emergencies when our office is closed: 0844 870 6864
