Winter maintenance: protecting your rental property

Every winter our maintenance team deals with the same short list of problems: boilers that fail on the first cold snap, pipes that freeze in unheated corners, gutters that overflow into walls, and condensation that turns into mould. Almost all of them are cheaper to prevent than to fix. Here is what we recommend, whether you are a landlord or a tenant.

For landlords: before the cold arrives

• Have the boiler serviced annually, ideally in autumn before the busy season
• Bleed radiators and check the system holds pressure
• Clear gutters and downpipes of autumn leaves; overflowing gutters are a leading cause of damp walls
• Lag any pipework in lofts, garages and other unheated spaces
• Check roof tiles, flashing and seals around windows while the weather still allows repairs
• Make sure tenants know where the stopcock is before they need it in a hurry

If the property has an older heating system, winter is when it will fail. A pre-season service costs a fraction of an emergency call-out in the first cold week of the new year, when every engineer in Norwich is already booked solid.

Frozen pipes: the five-figure risk

A burst pipe is the most expensive routine disaster in lettings. The prevention is cheap: insulation on exposed pipework, a minimum background temperature when the property is unoccupied, and dripping taps isolated before they freeze. If a property will be empty over the holidays, the heating should stay on low rather than off, and someone should check the property periodically; many insurance policies require both for cover to hold during an empty period.

Condensation, damp and mould

Winter damp complaints are usually condensation: warm moist air from cooking, showers and drying clothes meeting cold walls and windows. The fix is a partnership. Tenants can help by using extractor fans, keeping lids on pans, drying clothes with ventilation and allowing air to circulate rather than pushing furniture hard against cold external walls. Landlords need to make that possible: working extractor fans, adequate heating, decent insulation and prompt attention when mould does appear.

This matters more than it used to. With Awaab’s Law extending to the private rented sector, damp and mould are moving from “maintenance gripe” to regulated hazard with fixed response times. Landlords who deal with reports quickly and properly have nothing to worry about; the era of ignoring a mouldy bathroom is over.

For tenants: your winter checklist

• Report problems early; a small leak or a struggling boiler is far easier to fix before it fails
• Keep some background heat on in very cold spells, even when you are out
• Ventilate after showers and cooking, and use the extractor fans
• Know where the stopcock is, and turn the water off first if a pipe bursts
• Going away? Tell us or your landlord, and leave the heating on low

How Carvels handles winter

Our managed landlords have an in-house maintenance team behind their properties all winter, with an emergency line for the situations that cannot wait. Repairs get reported, triaged and fixed by people who know the property, and tenants are never left choosing between a cold house and an unanswerable phone. If your current arrangement involves crossing your fingers every December, we would be happy to show you the alternative.