It seems that several minds in property are considering the same thing around now: the onset of winter. After being kept awake last night by a gale force wind doing its best to persuade our roof to part company from the rest of the house, when I started work this morning (later than usual due to aforesaid interruption in the night), I was thinking of preparations for the winter from the perspective of the landlord.

While musing on this, a timely email arrived in my inbox from Property Tribes. Some might call this synchronicity but given the time of year, maybe it’s not such a coincidence. Vanessa Warwick‘s post on protecting your properties in winter outlines some of the issues that landlords can face from winter damage. She also refers to an article containing advice on the subject from the NLA.

Top jobs on my winter todo list are:

• making sure pipes are properly lagged and insulated
• checking roofs are sound and leak free
• clearing autumn debris from gutters, downpipes and drains in student HMOs.

The jobs on your list will vary according to the type of property you have and where you are geographically. For example, those of us in more exposed areas of the country may be more concerned about roof tiles than landlords in more secluded or clement areas.

Further reading

For a more comprehensive list, read Vanessa’s posts on Property Tribes and the advice from the NLA:

Protect your properties in winter
Cold weather advice for landlords
NLA: Protect your properties this winter