My Tenant Has Been Smoking In The House….

If you are concerned about smoking in your property – you’re probably right to be.  Smoking can cause a lot of damage.  Luckily, you are perfectly within your rights to...

If you are concerned about smoking in your property – you’re probably right to be. Smoking can cause a lot of damage. Luckily, you are perfectly within your rights to discriminate against smokers so it’s important to make sure that you or your agent determine right from the outset whether those applying for a tenancy are smokers so that you can make an informed decision about letting your property to them.

It’s important to make sure that the tenancy application form includes a question about smoking. A little bit of detective work can help too – I have often seen applicants stubbing out a cigarette a moment before a viewing.

Of course, just because someone is a smoker, doesn’t necessarily mean that they will smoke inside the house so you may want to consider smokers but just be clear about the terms of the contract. Most landlords won’t permit smoking in any part of the property (including the garden), some will permit smoking in the back garden but perhaps not the front.

All of our tenancy agreements include a no smoking clause that excludes smoking anywhere on the property (and this includes the garden) but this can be altered to reflect our Landlord client’s instructions if necessary. We always put our no smoking clause under our ‘separately negotiated clauses’ section. This means that the clause is highlighted in the agreement and tenants are able to see clearly that smoking is not allowed.

Whether you accept smokers or not, always make sure that you visit your property regularly and look out for signs of smoking. Yellowing paintwork, tobacco odour, burn marks and strong air fresheners are sure signs. If you visit regularly you’ll be able to take action soon into the tenancy and prevent too much damage. If you never visit and the tenants are smoking in the house for a long period of time you could find yourself having to completely redecorate and perhaps even re-carpet. The costs can escalate and will often amount to more than the deposit you hold.

If the worst does happen and you discover tenants breaching their tenancy and allowing smoking in the property, assuming that your tenancy makes it clear that smoking is not allowed, the tenant can be charged to pay to rectify the damage.

Thanks for reading and if you have any residential property letting related questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us – we’d love to get to know you.

Emma Macgregor MARLA

Lettings Manager

PS: PS: If you are looking for a ‘smart let’ (http://www.robinsonreade.co.uk/quick-let-or-smart-let/) call us today on 01489 579009 or email us at lettings@robinsonreade.co.uk for honest, expert and friendly advice.