Around half of private landlords fail to carry out routine maintenance checks on their properties before the winter weather sets in. The likely consequences of this include escalating problems, expensive repairs and unhappy tenants who may choose to move elsewhere who may choose to move elsewhere.

Being n top of essential maintenance isn’t just about maintaining a good relationship with your tenants its also about making sound financial sense.

Take a look at these top tips on winter maintenance for landlords…

Gutters, drains and roofs

Clear them from debris, this includes leaves and mud to minimise the risk of water damage, you could try to plan six monthly checks of drains for leaf build up that could block drains and cause leaks.

Make similar checks with your roof, loose or missing singles could lead to leakages with rain or melting snow and flat roofs can be prone to heavy leaks after rainfalls. It’s also important to check for ailing trees including dead or dying trees that could easily fall in high winds.

Heating and lighting

Boiler failure is the most common issue for landlords, have your boiler serviced at the end of October, this will flag any issues early. Put a service plan in place so your tenant knows who to call if anything goes wrong.

Heating woes aren’t all about the boiler, however three quarters of landlords who carry out winter maintenance checks to their boiler, only half remember to do a health check on the pipes and radiators too.

Set the property’s heating and lighting to come on regularly each day, a couple of hours on a low heat will prevent pipes from freezing and having a lamp or two set on a timer in the evening will help to avoid break-ins.

Fresh air

Condensation can also be a major problem, it’s important to allow air flow in the winter months or you may end up with nasty damp patches on the walls, particularly in high humidity areas like a bathrooms and kitchens. Ensure extractor fans are working properly and encourage tenants to ventilate the property properly.

Energy suppliers

At this time of year, it presents a good opportunity to check your bills and negotiate a deal that better suits you and your needs.

Alarms

Every habitable floor of a rental property must have a working smoke alarm and any room with a solid fuel appliance should be equipped with a monoxide alarm. Whilst testing your alarms, check the burglar alarm is working for added tenant reassurance on dark nights.

Insurance

Ensure that your current home insurance is up to date and check your policy provides adequate protection for any winter-related damages. Boiler insurance is also a good idea and if your property has a flat roof, it’s important to check that your insurer covers flat roof damage, most insurers don’t cover flat roofs and structure of this kind can be prone to collecting water as it can’t drain off.

Christmas Day drama

Landlords should check with their tenant in the days running up to Christmas that everything is working, check that they have spare keys and confirm the procedure in writing of how you would like them to deal with emergencies.