Don't let your property become party central: the accidental landlord warns against swapping long-term tenants for short-term lets

You can charge hotel prices when letting a property for a night or two but if you get a few 'psycho teens' who decide to trash the place, don't say you weren't warned by the accidental landlord
WEEF

Here’s an idea for landlords: why not chuck out your long-term tenants and switch to offering holiday lets instead? You could make at least 20 per cent more rent and avoid the hassle of dealing with long-term tenants.

Even better, you could let your property overnight, in the style of a hotel, and then charge a 50 per cent premium. What could possibly go wrong? Well, you could end up letting to a bunch of psycho-teens who will wreck your property and leave you with a bill for tens of thousands of pounds to repair it.

Don't believe me? It happened to a landlord in Belfast, who let his flat for one night to a woman whose daughter used it to host a birthday party. The trouble was that some of the guests misread the invite, so instead of bringing a bottle they brought a sledgehammer and smashed down the walls. It caused £40,000 worth of damage.

The property was reportedly let via a well known website which, according to the flat owner, offered to waive its £9.80 commission.

That wasn't much good to him, he said.

Of course, the property owner could sue the girl's mother for compensation but it will be a long process, and possibly futile if she can't afford to cough up. Much better, I think, for other landlords to avoid the risk of this happening to them by not letting out properties for one night at a time.

This landlord might have been unlucky. I know of several people who offer short lets without any problems but, my children tell me, it's common for parents to rent penthouse apartments in central London for their children's 18th birthday parties rather than hiring a room in a club or a bar. And I can't believe these kids leave the properties in the same condition they find them.

Having once hosted a teenage party, I know the damage that can be done. By 8.45pm my house was like a scene from The Walking Dead. Semi-comatose 16- and 17-year olds were projectile vomiting on Lidl vodka that they had sneaked into the house; girls in Dr Martens were dancing on the kitchen worktops, one girl was sitting in the kitchen sink and, judging from the painful racket, at least one of the speakers had blown.

My offspring's friends caused several hundred pounds' worth of damage but it would have been much worse if I hadn't pulled the plug on the party about two hours early.

If you are tempted to offer short lets, you need to make sure that you are complying with the rules and regulations. For a start, you can only offer short lets within central London for a maximum of 90 days a year, and while many landlords currently break this rule on a regular basis, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to police the situation more closely.

He has just asked the Government to introduce a register of landlords who offer short lets to make sure they don't take guests for more than 90 days.

Another factor to bear in mind is that most buy-to-let mortgage lenders insist on properties being let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, which must be for a minimum of six months. So, if you offer shorter lets, you might be in breach of your lender's terms and conditions.

Finally, be aware that you might invalidate your landlord insurance policy if you switch from long-term tenants to short-term or holiday lets, leaving you to pick up the bill if things go wrong. You should try to find a specialist insurance policy with a good level of cover instead. After all, just think of those teenagers with sledgehammers.

Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas or views, tweet @vicwhitlock.

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