Christmas, that great time of relaxation. For tenants, if you’re students you might be going home for the holidays, for others, it’s a chance to just kick back and relax. Sometimes, it can be hard to do in a house that isn’t yours though, all those worries (wine on the carpet). Here are our top tips for you, at Christmas:
1. Firstly – a LOT of people go away at Christmas. There’s a lot of visiting family for extended periods, and why not, the majority of us are off for 2 weeks. So – make sure your house is secure, because it’s likely at this time of year that burglaries are more frequent. Close the blinds, make sure the windows and doors are locked. If you’re anything like us you might even leave a landing light on.
2. If you are going away, unplug any electrical appliances – it’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially those Christmas lights that we don’t use all year round. (p.s. don’t unplug the fridge/freezer!)
3. Depending on the weather, if it’s chilly and freezing and you’re going away, we’d recommend leaving the heating on very low (or even a timer). This will stop any pipes freezing and bursting, and applies whether you’re renting a house or not in all honesty!
4. Check the alarms – fire and carbon monoxide. We’d recommend checking these before Christmas, so you can then rest easy that everything is all good on Christmas Day. If the alarms go off, it’s probably just the turkey in the oven…
5. Is your agent closing for the holidays? Then make sure you’ve got the correct emergency information incase anything goes wrong over the holidays.
6. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without that cosy, dim atmosphere would it? Be careful with your candles and fires, and just think, it’s better to be safe than sorry, even if you are just in the other room for half an hour. For tenants we’d also recommend checking you can actually light candles, as many tenancy agreements will state you can’t.