Landlords: Get Your Rental Property Winter-Ready This October
Ask any letting agent when the phone starts ringing and they will give you the same answer. The first cold snap. Boilers that limped through summer give up the day the temperature drops, and every landlord in the country is suddenly chasing the same engineers. October is the cheap, calm month to get ahead of all of it. Here is the checklist.
Why does October beat December?
Availability and price. Trades have diary space now that vanishes by late November, and a planned visit costs less than an emergency call-out, in money and in your tenant's goodwill.
A warm, dry, working home in January starts with an hour of admin in October.
What should be on the list?
Book the boiler service, and check when the annual gas safety check is due. If it falls mid-winter, bring it forward. It must be done every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, with a copy of the record for your tenant.
Ask your tenant to run the heating for ten minutes and report anything odd, then have radiators bled if they are cold at the top.
Clear gutters and downpipes once the leaves are mostly down. Blocked gutters are behind a surprising share of winter damp calls.
Have someone glance over the roof from ground level for slipped or missing tiles while it is still easy weather to fix them.
Check seals and draught strips around external doors and windows, and deal with any failed double glazing.
Lag any exposed pipework and isolate or drain outside taps before the first frost.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and ask your tenant to press the button monthly. You must ensure they are working; a monthly habit keeps them that way.
Have a short heating conversation with your tenant: low background heat in cold snaps, ventilation after showers and cooking, and please report problems early, however small.
Confirm how repairs get reported and what happens out of hours, so nobody is hunting for a phone number at 9pm on a Friday in January.
What does winter cost if you skip October?
Count it both ways. In money: emergency and out-of-hours rates over planned ones, plus the damage a burst or a leak does while you wait for a slot in the trades' busiest fortnight of the year.
And in goodwill, which is the one landlords undercount. Every tenancy is now periodic, so a good tenant who spends January cold and ignored can hand in two months' notice at any point. A warm, well-maintained home is not just compliance. Under the new rules, it is your tenant retention strategy.
Which jobs can wait until spring?
Not everything belongs on the October list, and knowing what to defer is part of spending well. Repainting, cosmetic upgrades, fencing that is leaning but sound, and garden projects all sit happily until the weather turns. Doing them now just means doing them again after winter has had its say.
The test is simple: does this job stop water, cold or danger getting in, or heat getting out? If yes, it is an October job. If no, note it for the spring visit and spend this month's budget where the season bites.
What is the tenant's part?
Tenants are your early warning system, so make reporting easy and thank them for it. A tenant who mentions the odd noise the boiler makes in week one saves you the breakdown in week six.
If the property will be empty over any winter break, ask them to leave the heating on a low setting. A frozen pipe is a miserable way to spend Boxing Day, for everyone.
What if something does go wrong?
Respond quickly, keep your tenant informed, and keep records of what was reported and when. Most winter problems are small if they are caught small.
And if you would rather hand the whole season to someone else, that is precisely what a good managing agent is for. If you would like to know what that looks like for your property, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
How often does a rental need a gas safety check?
Every 12 months, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and your tenant gets a copy of the record. If yours falls due mid-winter, bring it forward rather than risking a festive scramble.
Is a boiler service a legal requirement?
The service itself is not, but the annual gas safety check is. A service on top protects the warranty, and a serviced boiler is far less likely to quit in the cold.
Who is responsible if pipes freeze, landlord or tenant?
The structure and installations are the landlord's to repair. Tenants are expected to act reasonably, such as keeping some background heat on in a cold snap and reporting problems straight away.
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