Buy To Let Investors Beware - A New Peril To Watch Out For

[littledavesab]

BUY TO LET INVESTORS BEWARE - A NEW PERIL TO WATCH OUT FOR

IS YOUR LET PROPERTY BEING USED AS A CANNABIS FACTORY?

I am not being facetious. Working in the insurance industry I have seen two claims recently (could be coincidence but does not seem so).

Clients have let their properties, only to find that the so called tenants have messed with the wiring, blocked out the windows, knocked holes through walls, place stinks like...a cannabis factory. Unpaid mega electric bill. Costs a lot to fix + Insurers are unlikely to cover all or at best a small part of damage caused.

A quick look at google shows a fair number of newspaper reports

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/3858459...nnabis_factory/

This one was similar to our examples

Best way to protect yourself as a landlord is to carry out regular inspections

The culprits may or may not decide to live in the premises themselves while this is going on.

Police advice

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/news1743.html

My main point is that I think there is a lot of this going on....be careful

[renterbob]

BUY TO LET INVESTORS BEWARE - A NEW PERIL TO WATCH OUT FOR

IS YOUR LET PROPERTY BEING USED AS A CANNABIS FACTORY?

I am not being facetious. Working in the insurance industry I have seen two claims recently (could be coincidence but does not seem so).

Clients have let their properties, only to find that the so called tenants have messed with the wiring, blocked out the windows, knocked holes through walls, place stinks like...a cannabis factory. Unpaid mega electric bill. Costs a lot to fix + Insurers are unlikely to cover all or at best a small part of damage caused.

A quick look at google shows a fair number of newspaper reports

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/3858459...nnabis_factory/

This one was similar to our examples

Best way to protect yourself as a landlord is to carry out regular inspections

The culprits may or may not decide to live in the premises themselves while this is going on.

Police advice

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/news1743.html

My main point is that I think there is a lot of this going on....be careful

There are a young couple who've just moved next to us....the place wreaks of cannabis.

They've been knocking through walls, drive what can only be described as a pimpmobile and 'friends' come and go at all times in the evening.

We'll be leaving pretty soon if they stay.....but lets see what the police do first.

[Financial Hack]

There are a young couple who've just moved next to us....the place wreaks of cannabis.

They've been knocking through walls, drive what can only be described as a pimpmobile and 'friends' come and go at all times in the evening.

We'll be leaving pretty soon if they stay.....but lets see what the police do first.

A friend of mine had a farm set up in a house down the road from him. Him and his housemate broke in through the back door and stole a lot of weed.

Good times...

[fildi101]

Sounds like a good ploy to get rid of squatters too. Just tell the police you suspect a cannabis factory in your property, let the police break in, then re-occupy the place before the squatters have chance to change the locks again..

Job's a good'un.

[MacGuffin]

Surely with the BTL disaster currently underway, a few canny BTLers will be reading these articles for tips to get their properties earning some cash? Yes, the electricity bill may be a killer, but surely a bit of cashflow would not do the desperate BTler any harm?

By the way why do they need to knock through walls??

[UndercoverElephant]

Surely with the BTL disaster currently underway, a few canny BTLers will be reading these articles for tips to get their properties earning some cash? Yes, the electricity bill may be a killer, but surely a bit of cashflow would not do the desperate BTler any harm?

By the way why do they need to knock through walls??

See ducting tubes in background:

Edited March 20, 2009 by UndercoverElephant

[24gray24]

Sounds like propaganda to me. Any dealer worth his salt is going to pay the overpriced rent on time, pay the electricity bill in full and keep the neighbours happy. That way he has a long term lucrative business, which nets about £10,000 a month. No noise, no nuisance (doesn't live there), and the whole street supplied with grass for free and keeping a look-out for him.

I don't think the police care that much. Unless they need to meet arrest targets for month end. (Even then, it's probably safer to make up the numbers with a few middle class street smokers).

Does anyone seriously think smoking grass is any threat to society?

Many landlords are going to pocket the rent and concentrate on preserving deniability. ("Of course I had no idea, never went round the place"). I suspect the article is propaganda to try and get landlords to implicate themselves.

Since this is a country whose policing relies on snitches (often female), no doubt the main risk is snitching by financially jealous neighbours.

[MacGuffin]

Sounds like propaganda to me. Any dealer worth his salt is going to pay the overpriced rent on time, pay the electricity bill in full and keep the neighbours happy. That way he has a long term lucrative business, which nets about £10,000 a month. No noise, no nuisance (doesn't live there), and the whole street supplied with grass for free and keeping a look-out for him.

I don't think the police care that much. Unless they need to meet arrest targets for month end. (Even then, it's probably safer to make up the numbers with a few middle class street smokers).

Does anyone seriously think smoking grass is any threat to society?

Many landlords are going to pocket the rent and concentrate on preserving deniability. ("Of course I had no idea, never went round the place"). I suspect the article is propaganda to try and get landlords to implicate themselves.

Since this is a country whose policing relies on snitches (often female), no doubt the main risk is snitching by financially jealous neighbours.

Yes becuz skunk rotz mindz

[TeddyBear]

Sounds like propaganda to me.

This did actually happen to friends of friends of mine. Upper maisonette in Streatham. I thought it was an urban myth but heard it from the horse's mouth at a party.

They were told that they were lucky that the plants hadn't grown to full height as apparently growers often cut holes in ceilings to allow growth. New bathroom suite ruined by the chemicals they mixed up in the bath, fertilizers of some sort I suppose.

They were unaware, hadn't done an inspection and hadn't asked themselves why the tenants, on renewing their tenancy, had just paid six months cash up front! They would drop around for post sometimes but would only go to the bottom door and not up into the flat. Police busted the place.

They said there were traces that a child had lived there too, which was sad.

..and the cheeky crim buggers sent their lawyer around afterwards to ask for their TV and other property back!

Edited March 20, 2009 by TeddyBear

[Financial Hack]

Sounds like propaganda to me. Any dealer worth his salt is going to pay the overpriced rent on time, pay the electricity bill in full and keep the neighbours happy. That way he has a long term lucrative business, which nets about £10,000 a month. No noise, no nuisance (doesn't live there), and the whole street supplied with grass for free and keeping a look-out for him.

I don't think the police care that much. Unless they need to meet arrest targets for month end. (Even then, it's probably safer to make up the numbers with a few middle class street smokers).

Does anyone seriously think smoking grass is any threat to society?

Many landlords are going to pocket the rent and concentrate on preserving deniability. ("Of course I had no idea, never went round the place"). I suspect the article is propaganda to try and get landlords to implicate themselves.

Since this is a country whose policing relies on snitches (often female), no doubt the main risk is snitching by financially jealous neighbours.

They don't stay long term though because they'll get busted.

It's not like the local stoner growing some weed to sell to his mates.

It's often oriental gangs, also involved in people smuggling. They get the people they've smuggled over here to mind the farms for them as payment, so they're the ones that risk arrest or the possibility of the house catching fire from unsafe electrics.

All a good argument for legalisation, but the Government wouldn't make much tax out of it so they're not interested in acknowledging the reality of the situation.

[littledavesab]

Another one of these cannabis farm incidents reported - unlikely to be covered.

This one is in SW London and was let to persons seemingly of Chinese origin.

[littledavesab]

Does anyone seriously think smoking grass is any threat to society?

[lincs]

Clients have let their properties, only to find that the so called tenants have messed with the wiring, blocked out the windows, knocked holes through walls, place stinks like...a cannabis factory. Unpaid mega electric bill. Costs a lot to fix + Insurers are unlikely to cover all or at best a small part of damage caused.

Electric can be a big problem as suppliers will, in some cases be forced to permanently disconnect all electric to the property, which can obviously be a problem if you ever want to rent the property out again. I've been in the unfortunate situation in the past of informing landlords they have a six figure electric debt against their names (in the cases were the tenant didnt register themselves) as well as potentially needing to run their property on a generator for the forseeable future.

[Chrysalis]

guys tell me what you think of this.

A black african women moved above me, she knocked on my door to ask if I was ok with her been noisy at times, she said something about music and I said no problem. But I wasnt expecting what came.

For about 6 weeks solid constant drilling and sawing plus heavy objects been dropped on the floor, this was always late evening from about 8-10pm onwards until about midnight. Also at weekends during the day. when a friend came round he said it sounded like a workshop, he also said he seen some what looked liked black african men about 5 of them leaving my neighbours flat.

I rang my landlord and told him I think something odd is going on and he should make an excuse to go into the flat to check it out. I made it clear the noise was unacceptable but also was ringing that I suspected something dodgy was going on, whilst I was talking to him on the phone the drilling/sawing noise immediatly stopped as if whoever was upstairs could hear me. However I do still hear footsteps constantly walking around and heavy objects been dropped now and again.

Another thing that makes me suspect she is not living in the place and using it for other purposes is that the tenants that lived there before her I would sometimes hear and know when they use bath or shower, I have not on one single occassion heard her bath or shower going either bad luck or it hasnt been used. However I believe cable tv has been installed.

[oseame]

Give grass back to the farmers and make them profitable again! Legalise and Regulate!

Oh how I long for organic marijuana ^.^

[littledavesab]

guys tell me what you think of this.

Sounds supsicious - inform police or better still - Crimewatchers

Something similar happened to a friend of mine many years ago. Noises were late at night. Took ages before police took it seriously.

Turned out the noises were the stash being hidden under floor boards - that was a drugs depot rather than a factory!

[littledavesab]

Todays paper very sad

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?T...p;in_page_id=34

Children as young as ten are being smuggled to Britain to toil in dangerous cannabis hothouses, police have revealed.

Under-age workers from Vietnam and China are among those working as gardeners in illegal drug factories, often producing highly potent skunk. Gangs are waiving the £15,000 fees they would normally charge to bring people to Britain because the child labour can help generate multi-million-pound profits.

An estimated six per cent of all children trafficked here – often in locked containers – are forced to work in the factories.

[littledavesab]

RE electricity comment, Id make sure that any property let out had gas + electric pay as you go meters installed

VERY BAD THINGS ! A good article worth reading in full

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/ar...nnabis-farms.do

It seemed like the perfect crime. A south London street gang arranged to buy £30,000 worth of high-quality skunk cannabis from a team of Vietnamese growers that operated several successful “farms” across London and the south-east. The deal was set to take place in a car park close to McDonald's in Sutton, but instead of money, the gang produced hand guns and stole the drugs, safe in the knowledge that their victims, Khach Nguyen and Phac Tran, could never report the incident to the police.

When Nguyen and Tran returned to their Hackney base and told their boss, Hoc Kim Khoa, what had happened, he accused them of faking the robbery and demanded they repay the money. When they refused, the pair were kidnapped and taken to a remote farm in Surrey where, over the space of several hours, Nguyen was slowly beaten to death.

+

“We're now finding there are more white British people involved — about 60 per cent of the people we identify currently fall into that category. It's a significant change. The nature of the criminality and the ways the criminals organise is changing.”

+

With landlords wary of Vietnamese clients inquiring about large, isolated properties, many gangs welcome the involvement of British criminals in order to help them obtain suitable premises. Cases involving multiple nationalities are already appearing in courts and police expect this trend to continue. It also seems certain that the violence associated with the trade is set to grow.

[tim123]

RE electricity comment, Id make sure that any property let out had gas + electric pay as you go meters installed

You've no right to do this. The contract between the tenant and the Utility company is none of the LL's business.

tim

[ChumpusRex]

You've no right to do this. The contract between the tenant and the Utility company is none of the LL's business.

tim

Correct.

However, it is the LL's business to make sure that he is not paying someone else's (the tenant's bill).

I would advise all LLs to write to their electricity supplier giving the new tenant's name, meter reading and a copy of the tenancy agreement, whenever initiating a new tenancy. This way there can be no doubt who is responsible for the unpaid bills - so hopefully avoiding the problem of the electricity supplier disconnecting the electricity and refusing to reconnect it until the LL pays someone else's debt.

[Rozza]

You've no right to do this. The contract between the tenant and the Utility company is none of the LL's business.

tim

Thats not quite right, if the landlord gets key meters fitted although they cant specify which utility company the tenant uses they are legally allowed to stipulate that the meter type is not changed.

[tim123]

Thats not quite right, if the landlord gets key meters fitted although they cant specify which utility company the tenant uses they are legally allowed to stipulate that the meter type is not changed.

I believe that you are wrong

tim

[Chrysalis]

how do I know what cannabis smells like as I have never used it.

also I reported my neighbour as a suspected cannabis grower, the police werent interested, they were so laid back it was unbelievable.

[kingsgate]

I believe that you are wrong

tim

Perhaps, but if the owner wants the meter leaving alone, and the tenant disobeys and gets it changed, then the landlord could just give them 60 days notice by way of punishment.....

[juvenal]

Perhaps, but if the owner wants the meter leaving alone, and the tenant disobeys and gets it changed, then the landlord could just give them 60 days notice by way of punishment.....

In accounts of cannabis farms I've read, they invariably by-pass the meter and pay nothing, or are gone before any enquiries are activated.