Tips for ‘tenant proofing’ your property

Hi Peter,

Magnolia paint is always a favorite tip as it is easy to touch up 🙂

Laminate flooring is excellent. It cleans up like new between tenancies and can be dressed up with a new rug from time to time!

PIR activated lighting in the hall, stairs and landing removes the need for light switches in these areas and so the walls/wallpaper don’t get finger marks. Keeps the walls looking newer for longer.

Mastic around the vinyl flooring in the bathrooms so if there is a flood it won’t drop through and damage the ceilings below.
If you’re painting use good quality gloss on your wood work – more durable than the matt/silk finishes in my opinion
If you are considering fitting white goods check which brands have the longest warranty as standard; Bosch is 2 years and Blomberg offered 3 years earlier this year.
If you’re refitting central heating British Gas ( although expensive) often do a 1 year interest free credit deal about this time of year.
Avoid glass paned doors, esp. in your kitchen units…

Reply to the comment left by “Pam Van Loon” at “02/09/2014 – 13:47“:

Good tip, but if it is a flat check the lease as some preclude wooden/laminate floorings due to noise.

Reply to the comment left by “Neil Patterson” at “02/09/2014 – 13:42“:

White emulsion is my personal favourite as walls and ceilings are the same colour so easy and quick to touch up as there is no need for “cutting in”. Also if time allows laminate flooring in as many rooms and hallways as possible as no need for carpet cleaning (or damage from tenant spills) and floor looks better for longer. Personally I remove carpet from stairs and applying diamond hard floor paint for the same reason as laminate flooring. Google “painted stairs images” to see some finished looks.

If you are installing a new boiler – don’t install one with “remote control” operation – as the remote control box will inevitably “go walk about ” and that’s another £150-£200 notes down the drain.

Prepare a thorough “welcome pack” which should include precise instructions on how to do things such as – e.g. top up the water level in the boiler; where the shops for top-up-fuel payments are located; your emergency/repair phone number, copies of the gas safety certificate ……. the pack should also include their “tenant-like responsibilities”,

Reply to the comment left by “Ian Narbeth” at “02/09/2014 – 13:54“:

PIR ?? sounds intriguing

Locks on the ground-floor windows. Mortice and latch locks on every external door. This is good for your buildings insurance as well as your tenants’ piece of mind.

Encourage tenants to dry their clothes outside by supplying a rotary drier and pegs, on maidens or in a tumble-drier, especially in a small house. This is to stop them using the radiators all over the house, which increases humidity levels and risks condensation mould, which the tenants will call “damp” and claim it justifies a rent reduction.

Exterior, discrete, lockable storage for bicycles, otherwise they end up inside and being bashed around the house.

Look for cheap low-maintenance ways to smarten the place up. If a house looks clean and tidy, it tends to stay that way. It may also get you a higher rent or reduced void periods between tenancies.

Provide storage cupboards in bathrooms. Pay close attention to the quality of the seals around your bath, especially if you have a shower fitting and side panel. Never use shower curtains: they leak and quickly become disgusting.

Check your guttering doesn’t leak, and that you have good seals around your kitchen sink. Uncontrolled water leakage is your enemy.

If you provide white goods, get good mid-market products. The savings from buying cheap are quickly outweighted by maintenance costs. Equally, don’t buy up-market products: tenants will always find a way of abusing them.

Reply to the comment left by “All BankersAreBarstewards Smith” at “02/09/2014 – 14:43“:

Passive Infra Red – i.e. movement activated