Five Top Tips to Protect Your Property While Tenants Are On Holiday

If you’re a landlord and your tenants are going on holiday this summer, you must take steps to protect your property. Not only are empty properties prime targets for burglars, but they’re also more prone to damage. Here’s what you can do to make sure your property is safe while your tenants are away:

Make sure the doors are locked.

You would be surprised to find how many people forget to lock their doors before going on holiday, and it is a landlord’s duty to check all locks and ensure they are safe before the start of each tenancy, but you must always remind tenants to secure all lockable doors and windows before going away. Additionally, if your property has gates, a shed or a garage, ask tenants to lock these securely to prevent access to the premises.

Make it look like the home is occupied.

Ask your tenants to make some simple precautions to make it look like the property is occupied while they are away on holiday. This includes asking a neighbour to push the post through, and to put the bin out/in on bin day. Your tenants may also want to ask a neighbour if they’d like to leae their car on your driveway.

Also, internal lights are a great way to make it look like someone is in the property. Another way to make it appear as though someone is in the property is to angel the blinds.

Mow the grass before your tenants go away.

Overgrown grass and unkempt front gardens are the indicators that a house is vacant, and this can attract burglers.

Deter burglers.

Providing your tenants with light and radio timers can be a small, short-term expense that saves a lot of trouble in the long-term. Ask tenants to set timers on internal lights and perhaps a radio for the evenings so that the property looks lived in from the street.If your rental property doesn’t currently have a burglar alarm or motion-senor lights, consider installing these features to deter any thieves that target your investment.

Organise inspections

As soon as your tenants tell you they are going to be away, note down the dates and ask them whether you can make regular inspections during this period, or whether they can arrange for neighbours to pop round to check everything over.

If you live close enough to the property, or a neighbour has agreed to go round, opening and closing the curtains everyday will create the illusion of someone living in the house. However, make sure you know the burglar alarm code if your property has one – you don’t want to be caught setting off the alarm of your own property!