The Green Green Grass of home. Cannabis Farming in the Private Rental Sector.

I have written a few blogs on the rise in Cannabis Farms in private rental accommodation. However this week I received a call from a Landlord in Surrey who had been alerted by neighbours (not his managing agent!) of their suspicions. As the police attended, the remaining tenant was seen rushing away from the scene. Upon entering, it was plain to see, that the property was indeed another statistic of Cannabis Farming in the Private Rental Sector. It seems to be happening more nd more in Surrey.

I do not use the word devastation or devastated lightly. The former being the state of the property the latter the state of the Landlord. What choked him was entering his child's bedroom that still had all the trappings of a nursery in its decor had been vandalised beyond most of our comprehension.

A beautiful, normal family home, turned into something that felt somehow corrupt.

In the pictures in this blog you will see the ducts that the tenants have installed to vent the property, these go up the chimney. You will see the holes in the walls that have been butchered to accommodate these vents. Floors covered in plastic with mounds of soil that had leaked and penetrated the wooden floors and carpets beneath. The bolt holes across the ceilings where high voltage heat lamps had hung, and a mountain of wiring. Every room demonstrating tens of plug sockets overloaded as the tenants had bypassed the meter and tapped into the mains, bhich has since been cut of by the supplier.

The stench of cannabis, or soil and of damp hung in the air and penetrated the very fabric of the building.

It begged one question to me. How on earth did these people get to rent this property?

Times are tough in the lettings market. Landlords are keen to get empty properties occupied, agents desperate for the deals. Does this make our vision a little less clear, do we take slight risks. Is the temptation of cash just too much?

In this case not. The references, I am told, seemed OK. There was a bank account and rental was being paid. However this is common, after all, no criminal actually wants to appear as one!

In my experience, there are warning signs to watch out for.

1) Potential Cannabis tenants like properties to be a little more secluded, but with access to main road links. (This property had open fields in front of it and was detached, this is not unusual)

2) Properties are often in communities where comings and goings are not going to be questioned. However the property needs a degree of privacy. Often drive in garages are a plus as are older style properties with a chimney

3) One of the first things the tenants do on a viewing is look at the electricity meter. They are looking to see if it can be over ridden.

4)The tenants typically seem to have a beauty business of fast food business and the property is for either staff or them with a large extended family.

My advice of Letting a home to combat this?

Agents need to be absolutely aware of who it is renting a property. Take NI number, driving licence number and a copy of a passport, these are "traceable" Ids. A 6 week deposit does not touch the surface of this sort of damage.

Landlords ensure you have good insurance that would cover you for this eventuality.

Don't be tempted by cash deals unless you know the circumstances in which you are accepting it. Cash over good reference checking and ensuring the agents see genuine ID a false economy.

Lastly, trust your instinct. Its normally right.

Canabis farming in the private rental sector is alarming and can be avoided. Look out for some of the behaviours listed above and please ensure the checking is thorough and there is tracable ID taken.

For any advice about Letting your home and how to avoid the pitfalls, please call SurreyLets

Letting your home can be too much of a growth Industry

No pun intended, but one distinctive growth in the Lettings market is the number of tenants using rented property as a Cannabis farm. Landlords need to take be aware that cannabis growing has become one of the few British agricultural success stories, and it normally take place in a rented space.

Do NOT think it will not happen to you, the owner of a nice 3 bed semi in suburbia, because you are precisely the target would be tenants would choose. The residential neighbourhood where net curtains are common place, an area full of professional's, often shift workers, where curtains may be drawn in the day and people may come and go.

Its hard to spot, and you cant be too stereotypical about a "type" and they certainly are not going to tell you! So how do you, the novice Landlord, spot your tenant is farming Cannabis? More importantly, how can you prevent it?

SurreyLets' Top Ten Tips on spotting Cannabis in a rented property

1 Tenants may inspect the electric meters on a viewing - test water flow and look at the fabric of the house build, this is very unusual on a first viewing. Tenants may be looking to see if they can bypass the electric meter, see what the water supply is like to set up complex irrigation and look to see how easy it will to drill through walls and ceilings. Most tenants on a first viewing will look at how the accommodation will work for them , discuss the locality or condition, trust me, the electric meter is not top on the agenda!

2 Tenants who want to pay cash, or try to push cash on you as a deposit, often expressing they will pay rent in advance but may not want to undergo reference checks further than proof of ID. A lead tenant may not live in the property but say it is for family or employees. There is a certain vagueness that is demonstrated which may be covered up by a language difficulty.

3 Tenants may come via the private ads to avoid check and avoid agents. A "newbie" Landlord (moving away from the area) is a preference and sought after. The lure of upfront payments is used to sway Landlords as is a pleasant persona. However, this is not the time for niceties, this is a business for you, your income, so remain detached and impersonal, see how they shape up with proper checks.

4 Once moved in, tenants may seemingly have chemistry equipment or lots of tubing, looking like tumble dryer tubing (often made from reflective material). This may hand out from windows. The vagueness of the occupants may still remain, extended family, parents etc are all used to distract from a "lead" tenant. It will be hard to identify who is accountable.

5. Curtains will be drawn shut in a bid to disguise blacked out windows or windows lined in plastic. Drawn curtains explained as shift workers sleeping. The windows may suffer lots of condensation. Windows remaining closed.

6 The tenants may request additional security. They may ask for permission to install interior bolts or changing the locks once moved in. They may set security lighting to make the property appear normal from the outside.

7 Strange smells and an increase in external venting - particularly noticeable in cold weather. Pungent smells.

8 Bright internal lights, sometimes only notices in the night through gaps in blinds.

9 Bin bags full of vegetable material being thrown away. The stalks and roots of cannabis plants are discarded when the plants are cropped. Plant pot shaped root balls may be dumped in the garden.

10 Difficulty contacting tenants - a certain vagueness in the contact and response from a tenant. Whilst the rent may be being paid and the front lawn kept tidy, not being able to contact your tenant and build a relationship may signal a problem. Its always hard to say what is "normal" but a family home owuld have a family and they would follow most normal trends, so if they are not, question why. Its hard when you are not local to do this, a friendly neighbour may be able to give more insight, but its important to remember that the tenants will not want to draw attention to what they are doing, so they will try to ensure the front exterior looks normal.

SuureyLets - How to avoid having a problem tenant?

1. Always take full, comprehensive references / tenant checks and ensure this is a full check including credit checks, employment, fraud and affordability. Ensure every occupant on the tenancy agreement is fully referenced.

2 Look at taking Landlords Insurance for loss of rent and legal costs. If the references are not good enough for them to offer you insurance and they will not take the risk, why should you?

3 To a certain extent, follow your gut feeling. Are they who they say they are and why are they wanting to rent? Certain things will start alarm bells ringing, for example, why are thy in rented accommodation? Who will be living there, and if so why are they not viewing? Are they a family or sharers? Can you reference them all? Where do they work and what do they do? What are there plans? Are they on the voters roll where they are? These are just some questions that will help you build a picture of who you are letting to.

If your gut feeling is not right and you cant reference the prospective tenants, then do not let them rent your property. As mentioned, if an insurance company won't take the risk, why should you? The fact is, 6 weeks deposit does not go very far when Landlord victims of this crime normally look at costs in excess of 20K to put their home back to the condition it was in.

SurreyLets are available to discuss this with you and assist on letting you home in Surrey. For an informal chat or if you are thinking of letting you home in Surrey, we would be delighted to hear from you. 01483 282470