Like many landlords, I have heard stories about nightmare tenants who refuse to pay their rent and cause expensive damage to the property. Thankfully I have never had the displeasure of such tenants in my properties, but since I always check a potential tenant’s references carefully prior to the start of a tenancy agreement, the chances of such an unfortunate event occurring are slim to say the least.

However, nightmare tenants are not always easy to spot, and this is especially true for inexperienced landlords who are new to the property rental business, but even so, when I read a story in the press the other day about one poor landlord’s terrible experience, I was shocked.

The landlord in question had spent a huge amount of money renovating his property before letting it out through an agency. Tenants were found who duly provided references and moved in, but after a few months, the rental payments ceased and eviction proceedings were commenced.

But this was only the start of the nightmare. It took the best part of six months for the landlord to finally kick the tenants out of his property, and when he regained possession of the house, he was faced with an appalling sight. The property he had spent thousands of pounds renovating had been trashed completely: windows were smashed, the kitchen had been ripped out and carpets torn up. Lead flashing had even been removed causing the roof to leak, and a blocked toilet had leaked waste everywhere.

Maybe if the current court system had allowed the landlord to evict his tenants faster, this level of damage might not have occurred…

As we are all very much aware, gas safety is crucial in any home, including rental properties. So to remind home owners, landlords and tenants just how essential it is that gas appliances are regularly maintained, the first ever Gas Safety Week was launched on September 12th.

Many of my properties have gas appliances and gas central heating boilers, and like any responsible landlord, I make sure they are serviced regularly, have an annual gas safety check, and are replaced when necessary. Unfortunately, not all landlords are so scrupulous about such matters and this campaign seeks to raise the awareness of what we can do to improve gas safety.

What should landlords do to improve gas safety?

•    Always ensure a Gas Safe Corgi registered engineer services and works on your gas appliances
•    Make sure all gas appliances in your properties are regularly serviced and have an annual safety check

These steps might seem like common sense, but it is all too easy to try and cut corners to save money. You might assume that the gas appliances in your properties are safe, but carbon monoxide is a highly dangerous gas and you cannot afford to put the lives of your tenants at risk for the sake of a few pounds. Poorly installed or outdated gas appliances can easily leak carbon monoxide gas, and because CO gas is odourless and tasteless, it can be lethal.

So if you are in any doubt about the gas appliances in your properties, have them checked immediately—before it is too late!

Like most people, I have been watching the evening news for the last few nights, aghast at the events playing out in London and in other major cities. As the rioting and looting of property spreads and chaos ensues, it is hard to believe just how much damage has been caused by a small minority intent on creating anarchy.

But what happens if you are a landlord and you have property in one of the affected areas? Checking your landlord insurance cover is something you should do in the first instance. Make sure you have sufficient insurance and that it will cover any potential damage to property. Unfortunately, it might already be too late if your property has been affected by the riots, but if you are covered, at least the damage can be rectified. As a responsible landlord, you should also contact your tenants to make sure they are ok and to advise them of what to do if they feel they are in any danger.

After four nights of violence, we can now (hopefully) look forward to a cessation of the trouble in our city centres as the law enforcement agencies crack down hard on the criminal element behind the disorder. I have been lucky and none of this has affected me, but sadly there are lots of innocent people who have not been quite so lucky. Who can forget the images of burning buildings? Every scene of wanton destruction represents a livelihood, a business, or even a home. We can only hope that this is the end of this shameful episode.

The Edinburgh Festival is on at the moment, so for landlords with property in or around Edinburgh, you have a fantastic opportunity for making some extra money while the tourists flock to the city during the month of August.

The Edinburgh Festival is fabulous. I have been several times and there is always a lot to see and do. Of course, it is possible to have plenty of fun when you go for a day, but for the majority of people, spending several days in the city is really the best way to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the sights.

As you might expect, hotels and B&Bs are booked up well in advance, so accommodation during August is always at a premium, which makes rental properties a useful prospect for millions of people who need somewhere to stay for a few nights. So if you are looking to invest in a buy to let property, any popular tourist destination such as Edinburgh is always a great prospect and you can easily increase your rent during the Edinburgh Festival.

An alternative is to let a room out in your home for the duration of the Festival or, if you have somewhere else to go, let your entire house out during August: if you are lucky and have a home in a prime city centre location, you could easily make a fortune over the course of a few short weeks.

And don’t forget, it is not just tourists who come to enjoy the Edinburgh Festival—all of the performers and associated support staff need accommodation as well!

Problem tenants are every landlord’s worst nightmare. Whilst tenants who fail to pay their rent on time can cause headaches, tenants who blight the lives of their neighbours with antisocial behaviour and all-night parties can be just as problematic. And let’s not forget the delightful tenants who trash the property, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage in the process, deal drugs on the premises, and indulge in acts of random violence.

During my years as a landlord, the majority of my tenants have been hassle-free, but for those landlords who have not been as lucky the process for evicting anti-social tenants has always been very lengthy and expensive. At present, the onus is currently on the landlord to provide evidence to back up their claims of anti-social behaviour, but a new proposal by the Government Housing minister, Grant Shaps, looks likely to change things for the better.

Grant Shaps wants to introduce a much faster procedure for evicting problem tenants accused of anti-social behaviour (although the proposal will not affect a landlord’s right to take possession of his property once the tenancy ends under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988), and if the tenant has any previous convictions for violence, drug dealing, and criminal damage, these could also be taken into account.

Hopefully this new proposal to streamline procedures for evicting “tenants from hell” will go a long way towards making landlord’s lives much easier as we will no longer be forced to struggle with a long and drawn out legal process to kick out nightmare tenants.

It looks like prospective landlords are in for a beneficial few months with the recent news that several of the big lenders have slashed their buy to let mortgage rates in an attempt to attract new business in the buy to let market.

One of the big names on the High Street, NatWest, has reduced its interest rates on buy to let products by a massive 1.4 percent during the course of last month, which is a pretty significant drop. And if the other recent news reports I have read are correct, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that lenders are likely to keep slashing the interest rates on their buy to let products as they try and gain a greater share of the booming buy to let market. Some lenders are also reducing their completion fees to gain new business.

With competition so strong in the buy to let mortgage market, prospective landlords are definitely on to a winner. Now is a fantastic time to expand your property investment portfolio—borrowing is cheap and with rapidly rising numbers of people looking to rent rather than buy, your buy to let business will soon be booming!

But before you skip down the high street in the search for a new buy to let mortgage, make sure you do your research to see what kind of deals the lenders are offering. Interest rates are changing all the time, so it might be worth waiting a month or two to see if the rates fall even lower.

As any landlord knows, the cost of replacing an old central heating system in a rental property can be a massive expense, and when you have several properties with worn out boilers, the financial outlay is huge.

But thanks to a new government scheme designed to help households replace their old inefficient central heating boilers with brand new energy efficient heating systems, landlords can take advantage of grants up to £1,250 per household and put it towards the cost of installing renewable “green” central heating systems. These include solar thermal panels, air and ground source heat pumps, and biomass boilers.

Research has shown that the installation of energy saving heating systems can be a big plus for prospective tenants. Nobody likes throwing money away on expensive central heating systems that use fuel like it is going out of fashion, so instead of spending valuable time and money maintaining and repairing an outdated boiler, consider installing a new “green” system for your tenants.

The £15 million Renewable Heat Premium Payment Scheme is open for applications from August 1st until March next year and a whopping £3 million has been set aside for landlords to upgrade their housing stock. Each application will be treated individually and the grant available will depend on the current system as well as the type of device being installed.

For those who want to be “greener”, this represents an excellent opportunity to rip out an old boiler and replace it with a new energy efficient one—and I will definitely be looking into improving some of my properties!

With money so tight at the moment, it is hardly surprising that large numbers of people are waking up to the idea of letting their spare room for one or two nights per week in order to make a little extra cash.

You might not have considered the idea, but if you are lucky enough to have a spare room that is not full of junk or in-laws, it makes financial sense to take advantage of the growing trend for short term rentals aimed at travellers.

As the cost of holidays soar thanks to fuel taxes and associated excesses, an increasing number of travellers are opting for private accommodation instead of fancy hotels (me included). Unsurprisingly, this is driving up demand for holiday homes and short term holiday lets.

So if you have a decent sized spare room, or you are open to giving up your home as a holiday let for a week or two per year, do the math and see how much extra money you can make. With an average room rate of £43 per night, letting a room for up to two nights per week could potentially earn you an extra £4,500 per year, which is not to be sniffed at. And if you live in London or Edinburgh, this rate is even higher.

Of course, if you happen to live on a rough estate somewhere, you might have a problem attracting visitors to your home—unless their SatNav has guided them seriously off the beaten track or they fancy a holiday with a difference!

In line with other recent news stories and statistics published of late, the Bank of England has reported a rise in the numbers of people turning to the buy to let property market as a sound investment. The bank’s figures show a steady increase since the first quarter of 2010, plus a sharp rise in the second quarter of this year, and in light of the increasing interest in the buy to let market, I can only assume there are an awful lot of investors just like me who are keen to make the most of the current market conditions.

It feels like every time I open a newspaper of go online these days, there is another news report telling me that first time buyers are losing faith in the prospect of owning their own home and are turning to the rental market instead. I also know from my own experiences that first time buyers unable to get a mortgage are fast becoming the most common prospective tenants.

So is it easier to find a buy to let mortgage in the current climate?

Well the numbers of buy to let mortgage products are certainly on the rise as lenders compete with each other to cash in on the buy to let property investment market. According to figures from one website, the number of buy to let mortgage products on the market exceeded 600 in May 2011, the highest level since 2008. And with long term tenant demand forecast to increase, now is certainly a good time to invest.