Landlords given advice on how to tell if a property is being used as a drugs den

Added 25.11.09

At what point do you start to suspect your tenants of using your property as a cannabis factory?

This is the question Jonathan Daines, co-founder of website lettingaproperty.com put to a Merseyside landlord who recently found out his tenants were in fact using his property to farm cannabis.

Here is their question and answer session.

Q. How did you find out that your tenants were growing cannabis in your property?

A. I never had any difficulties with the tenants throughout the tenancy however, towards the end of the agreement they stopped paying rent and when my agent tried to contact them, they did not return the calls.

Q. What happened next?

A. We used my spare key to gain access to the property and as we walked into the front door we were smacked in the face by the most pungent smell and the air was very damp.

Q. What was your initial reaction to what you saw in the property?

A. I was speechless. We called the police out immediately. They informed us on the telephone not to go into any of the rooms as it is quite common for the growers to set traps to electrocute any unwanted intruders by hooking up live wires to the internal door handles.

Q. How would you describe the condition of the property?

A. The boiler had been tampered with to over-ride the temperature control. This meant it was constantly blasting out heat and somehow they kept the air in the property very damp - like a green house. All of the kitchen units were warped, the floorboards were rotting, the radiators were all rusted, there was compost everywhere. The carpets were completed ruined. They had stapled curtains over every internal door, I guess to keep the humidity high in the rooms.

Q. Looking back, were there any obvious signs that this was happening in your property?

A. No, as I said, they were decent enough tenants, they passed the agent’s initial credit checks and they paid their rent on time and in full. Apart from going over to the property every month, I am not sure what I could have done to prevent this?

To help landlords, Daines has drawn up some useful tips on how to spot whether your property is being used as a cannabis farm:

The windows of the property are permanently covered from the inside.
Visits to the premises occur at unusual times of the day or night.
People often do not live in the premises and only visit to maintain them. Offenders may call daily or weekly but usually do not stay long.
There may be a vent protruding through the roof or a rear window
There may be a pungent smell coming from the premises
There may be noise coming from the equipment in the premises (i.e. cooling fans)
Black bin bags or laundry bags for removal of cannabis or by-products, such as used fertilizer
Compost bags or gardening equipment left outside, usually in the rear of the premises

Lettingaproperty.com is aimed at private landlords and letting agents who want to advertise properties to let across the UK. The company also offers advice and information about renting and letting property.

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