15February

Preparing Your Rental Properties for The Winter

Making sure that your rental properties are prepared for the Winter is important, as this means you will be able to keep your rental property warm during the biting, icy temperatures that come during the snowy season.

You can help us, and your landlord saves our time and money by just going over any slight issues that you may have with the following…

Heating

When it comes to preparing for Winter, heating checks are very simple, these include:

Checking that your boiler light is on
Checking if all the radiators in your rental property are working to full function. If you need to bleed your radiators, you can either do it yourself or hire a specialist to help.

Insulation

All of your efforts with heating could become ineffective if you cannot keep that heat in. In terms of insulation, you will need to:

Checking draught-proof covers around letterboxes and keyholes.
Checking your window and door frames for damage to your rental property, report any damages if it is necessary.

Garden & Outdoor Areas

During the cold winter, the garden tends to be rather neglected, especially when all you can do in it is build a snowman! Because of this, you will need to ensure that no damages are caused to it, due to infrequent use. Some ways you can do this are:

Raking up fallen leaves.
Trim bushes and even trees if you must.
If you have an outdoor tap with an isolation valve, then be sure to close this valve to ensure that your pipes don’t freeze or burst.

Property Exterior

Be sure to check your rental property in the drier months before Winter, as they are a good opportunity to access all the areas before the wind, rain or even snow sets in. If there are some places hard to reach or difficult to clean, you may be better off with a professional to make sure that nothing is damaged, you can then:

Check for peeling paint as this could be a sign of moisture that is penetrating the rental property.
Check your pipes, drains and guttering to make sure there are no blockages, and they are affixed properly.
Make sure no ventilation systems are blocked
Clean your windows.
Check exterior lights are working.