No one wants to get caught out when the seasons change and get avoidable damage to their property. Here, we will go through essential tips every landlord needs to know before winter hits to ensure that their property is protected, and their tenants know what to do during these cold months.

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Are There More Risks to Property in the Winter?

With winter, there are more risks to your property for a number of reasons. In the UK, the combination of the cold and the damp can result in numerous issues surrounding condensation and mould, which can damage properties and be dangerous for tenants.

However, there are ways to combat these risks, and knowing what steps you need to take before winter comes around is crucial if you want to ensure the safety of your property.

Essential Tips Every Landlord Needs to Know Before Winter Hits

Here, we will go through essential tips every landlord needs to know before winter hits in order to keep their property in good condition and ensure that their tenants are happy. Many of these are incredibly easy, and take little to no effort at all but can be highly beneficial.

Winter Inspections and Maintenance Checks Are a Must

As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to ensure that all the necessary inspections and checks are carried out timeously. Doing this will protect your property for the months to come, too, and keep your tenants safe and happy. Remember that landlords need to carry out a gas safety check at least once a year, so this should be at the top of the list if it wasn’t conducted earlier in the year.

Maintenance checks we recommend all landlords do before winter hits include the following:

• Bleed all radiators
• Insulate water tanks and pipes
• Carry out checks for any roof damage, including slipped, missing, or damaged tiles
• Carry out checks on internal pipes and the condition of the heating systems
• Repair all damaged window frames and reseal paint
• Clear all gutters

Stay in Touch With Tenants

All tenants should have the details of their landlord, so keeping in touch should be straightforward whenever it is needed. However, in the winter, it’s worth making sure that your tenants know that you are available to talk to, should any problems arise.

Make sure to ask all tenants to communicate with you before winter starts, as this will be the time when issues like mould and damp are likely to crop up. You could schedule inspections for the property, but the tenants will be the ones to notice any issues first, which means that you can get ahead of any problems before they become worse.

Ask Tenants to Protect the Building by Implementing Simple Solutions

Educating your tenants on how to protect the property while they live there is crucial, and this is something that you need to do before winter hits. You might expect many renters to know how to minimise the risk of damage, but this isn’t always the case.

Many people, particularly those who are renting on their own for the first time, might not be aware of the simple steps that they can take in the wintertime. We recommend supplying your tenants with either digital copies, or printed copies (perhaps even laminated) to help them remember what they can do.

Ask tenants to follow these rules wherever possible before winter hits:

• Open a window and close doors when cooking in the kitchen
• Keep bathroom doors closed when bathing or showering, and open a window afterwards
• Use the provided extractor fans
• Keep windows dry by wiping away condensation
• Where possible, keep the entire property at an even and warm temperature
• Open windows regularly to air out the property
• Keep furniture away from the walls

Provide Your Own Solutions to Problems

You should know your property well, which means that you might have inside information on any particular issues that you think tenants might face, such as condensation. Depending on your situation and the situation of your tenants, providing them with things like tumble dryers or dehumidifiers can go a long way in reducing condensation in the building.

These solutions are not solutions, though, and the underlying issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible. It’s also worth noting that if appliances are required to keep the property safe, it’s important to take into account the electric costs of running said appliances for your tenants – particularly if the electricity is separate from the rental price.

Remind Tenants to Report Maintenance Issues Promptly

Things can get busy over the winter period, which can lead to delayed reports when there are maintenance issues within the property. One of the essential tips every landlord needs to know before winter hits is this: remind tenants to report any maintenance issues as soon as possible.

Small issues can quickly turn into larger and more dangerous problems, and staying on top of any potential issues is crucial.

Encourage Communal Harmony

Before winter comes, we recommend reminding all tenants to strive for communal harmony. Unfortunately, this time of year is busy, and with people spending more time at home than at work, it isn’t uncommon for tensions to rise and domestic disputes to come and go. This can be dangerous and unpleasant not only for the tenants, but for neighbours and the wider community as well.

Within this realm, we also suggest reminding your tenants of the possibility of noise complaints during the festive period. While we always want people to have a good time, remind them to be mindful of their neighbours and keep noise down, particularly at night.

Winter Maintenance Checklist

We recommend that all landlords keep a checklist of maintenance that needs to be done before winter begins. This will help you keep track of what needs to be done, so you don’t need to worry that you have forgotten anything crucial.

Below is a useful winter checklist to go through to ensure that your property is ready for the colder months:

• Inspect and service water heaters, boilers, electric fireplaces, etc
• Ensure there is debris on exterior fans
• Check if there is debris in extractor fans and ventilation
• Pack outside furniture away
• Ensure the fireplace is free of debris and clear
• Check alarm systems, locks, and security lights
• Make sure the gas safety check has been completed and the safety certificate is valid
• Clean up the garden
• Check for damp or mould in poorly ventilated areas
• Ensure all doors and windows are efficiently sealed
• Check for roof damage
• Use draft excluders around necessary areas (e.g. doorways)
• If necessary, bleed the radiators
• Run low heating to prevent pipes from freezing
• Inspect gutter joints for leaks
• Ensure all CO and smoke alarms are working
• Clear drains and gutters
• Ensure tenants know where the stopcock is, and that it’s functioning properly

Final Thoughts

Being a landlord comes with its own risks, but you need to step up to the plate and ensure that your tenants are protected. In many cases, this simply means that they need to know what their responsibilities are and what is expected of them, and they need to know that you are there to help them and make the property a safe space to live.

In this article, we went through essential tips every landlord needs to know before winter hits and talked about several ways that you can keep properties and tenants safe beyond your legal obligations.

If you would like to learn more, we have blogs covering if squatting is illegal in the UK, how landlords can evict tenants after Section 21 is abolished, how to find landlord details, and the new 2024 fire regulations for landlords.

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