As a landlord of residential properties, you’re responsible for carrying out any repairs if damage occurs due to a disaster like flooding or a fire.
These are both common problems in the UK, where one in six homes is a flood risk and there are around 33,000 house fires in an average year.
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Flood risks UK
The Environment Agency’s national assessment of flooding estimates more than five million Brits live and work in properties that are susceptible to being flooded by the sea or a river. One million of these households are also under threat from surface water flooding.
Another 2.8 million properties are in danger of surface water floods alone. Floods in Britain cost a total of £1.4 billion damage every year.
Experts predict the annual damage caused by flooding could increase by around 20% in the near future due to the severity of the climate crisis, as sea levels rise, and extreme weather conditions become the norm.
House fires
When it comes to house fires, the vast majority start in the kitchen, with cooking appliances being the biggest fire risk. This includes faulty appliances, or human error, where the householder has forgotten they have left a pan boiling on the hob and it ignites, for example.
The total cost of damage nationally is estimated to be around £12 billion a year.
Tragically, there were 334 fire-related deaths in the UK during 2021/22, the last fully reported year. One-third of the fatalities were caused by smokers’ materials that weren’t put out properly.
What steps should landlords take after a disaster?
As a landlord, it’s vital you have property insurance that covers your buy-to-let portfolio. You will need building insurance at the very least but contents insurance too if you provide furnished dwellings. You are not responsible for replacing or repairing tenants’ personal belongings that have been damaged by a fire or flood water.
You should contact your insurer immediately and they will send a loss adjuster as soon as possible to assess your claim. Take photographs of the damage and keep a written record of all conversations and correspondence.
You must check in with your insurance provider before you start taking any major action in rebuilding your property and making it habitable again. Liaise on a regular basis to keep up to speed with how long the claim will take to finalise.
If your furniture has been damaged, Furniture Rental can provide emergency furniture and will also assist insurance companies, loss adjustors, insurance claims handlers and individuals who have suffered fire or flood damage.
What are the priorities?
Make sure it’s safe to return to the home before taking any action after a flood. The electricity supply should have been turned off at the mains after the accident and it should remain switched off before you enter.
You will need to hire a qualified electrician, who should check the damage thoroughly and provide you with a written quote on exactly what needs to be done.
The gas should also be turned off and, like the electricity, you will need to employ a professional registered gas engineer to carry out a safety check and carry out any repairs.
Major repair work
Once the electricity and gas have been made safe, the next priority should be major repair work and redecoration. If there has been a flood, getting rid of stagnant floodwater, disinfecting the property and drying it out are your biggest tasks.
You should wear protective clothing to clean the parts of your home that have been contaminated by flood water to avoid the risk of infection or illness. This should include waterproof jacket and trousers, rubber gloves and a face mask. If you have any open cuts on your skin, cover them thoroughly with a waterproof plaster.
Ask your insurance company if they will organise professional cleaners, as this may be included in your policy. Contact the Environmental Health department of your council to find out how to safely dispose of waste.
If the water levels have dropped lower outside than inside your house, you can get rid of the water by using a bucket or pump. You could hire a pump and petrol-driven generator from a tool hire store.
You will have to throw out the carpets, as there is no way they can be dried out safely without retaining an odour and possibly bacteria.
Carry out an initial clean and then a more thorough one, disinfecting all surfaces that have been in contact with flood water. Use a brush, detergent cleaning products and hot water. Clean enclosed spaces as well as surfaces, such as built-in kitchen units. Put household disinfectant on anything that has been in contact with the flood water.
Drying your property out can take weeks or even months, depending on how serious the flood was. Leave the central heating on at about 22 degrees centigrade to speed up the process.
Once the property has dried out, you can begin the task of redecorating and arrange for the rental furniture to be delivered – something you should have already set in motion with your insurer.
Protect your home from future flooding
You can help flood proof your property with some simple measures. Install water resistant door and window frames and seal with silicone sealant.
Look into having non-return valves in sewage pipes to prevent the sewage from flooding into the house. Also check access points such as washing machine pipes for any gaps in the exterior wall and fill them in.
Choose solid flooring, such as concrete covered with sealed tiles or treated timber. This is more resistant than chipboard or floorboards. Have plastic kitchen and bathroom units rather than chipboard or MDF.
Property repairs after a fire
As with flooding, you must always check with professionals that your property is safe to enter. The fire service will tell you whether it is too badly damaged to risk entering.
Getting your property back to normal may take weeks or months, especially in the event of a serious blaze. Some damage may require professional trades people to resolve, particularly around meter cupboards and the gas and electricity supply, for example.
If the damage is more cosmetic and you’re confident when it comes to painting and decorating, you may be able to redecorate the house yourself. Your furniture is likely to be ruined, so as with flooding, it can speed things up if you use emergency furniture rental services.
Take fire precautions
You must have smoke detectors installed around the property – particularly in high-risk areas such as the kitchen. This is a legal requirement in buy-to-let properties. Alerting you to an issue quickly will reduce the chances of a fire or smoke from spreading.
Also, make sure your annual gas inspection and your five-yearly electrical safety inspection are carried out by a professional and kept up to date.
Make sure your tenants are made aware of potential fire hazards such as leaving lit candles unattended, or a heated appliance, such as hair straighteners, turned on for hours. Provide them with some written information on safe practices in the home.
While it’s important to protect your property from future disasters to look after your tenants’ safety, it’s also important to prevent serious damage to your buy-to-let homes. A major flood or fire can leave your property uninhabitable for months on end and this can cause your insurance premiums to rocket if you have made a big claim.