Ensuring your house isn’t a home for crime
24 June 2010
SOCA is advising rental property owners to be alert to serious organised criminals seeking to use residential lettings as bases for activities including drug manufacture, counterfeiting, mass marketing fraud and people trafficking. SOCA has also alerted the residential letting sector.
The economic downturn of recent years has given rise to a growing number of people letting properties they have been unable to sell. The inexperience of these ‘accidental landlords’ may make them susceptible to targeting by criminals offering attractive cash payments, at top prices and months in advance.
Such offers may be tempting, but having criminal tenants could subject landlords to severe financial liabilities, blacklisting by mortgage and insurance providers and prosecution. Some criminal activities will also bring with them the risk of damage to both property and health by fire, explosions, flooding and exposure to toxins.
Carrying out the proper checks on prospective tenants is imperative, as is remaining vigilant with regard to managing a property once it has been let. Property owners can help to protect themselves by taking action including the following:
- Demanding substantial references from employers and/or former landlords, and checking them out
- Not accepting payment in cash
- Undertaking regular property inspections
- Intervening if sub-letting of the property becomes evident, or if tradesmen or utility providers report being denied routine entry
- Reporting suspicions or concerns
SOCA Deputy Director Sharon Lemon said:
“It is often unwitting facilitation of serious organised crime that allows it to prosper and bring harm to the UK. Letting out a property to criminal gangs has the potential to ruin your life and those of others, but acting responsibly in the selection of tenants and management of properties can go a long way to helping landlords avoid problems.”
Law enforcement action in recent years has uncovered rented properties used as brothels and people trafficking stations, and for the extremely hazardous production of methamphetamine. Additionally, in mid-2009, 2,000 cannabis plants and 1,000 buds were found by police in a single residence.
Potential indicators of this kind of activity might include strong, continuous chemical smells such as ammonia, bleach, solvent or rubber, or levels of noise and human traffic inconsistent with the type of property. High levels of mail addressed to persons not connected to the address could also suggest tenants’ involvement in mass marketing fraud.
Suspicious activity can be reported to your local police force, or by getting in touch anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the ‘giving information’ form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
Related reading
Information about how SOCA works with the private sector to raise awareness of threats such as these can be found on the Alerts page.