Summer never seems to last as long as you think it will, and then suddenly the clocks are about to go back, the heating’s going on again, and a tenant is texting you about a draught under the front door that definitely wasn’t there in June. If you get ahead of the colder months now, instead of waiting for the first complaint about a freezing bathroom or a bit of black mould behind the wardrobe, you’ll save yourself a fair amount of money and quite a lot of aggravation once winter actually arrives.

Damp and Mould Should Come Before the Boiler

Most landlords think about heating first, but honestly, damp problems usually start well before the temperature drops, so that’s where I’d begin. Walk round the property and actually look, not just a quick glance, for discoloured patches on walls, peeling wallpaper, blistered paint, or that musty smell that tends to sit in bathrooms and any bedroom corner that doesn’t get much air. These aren’t cosmetic issues, they’re usually the first sign of something bigger. Shared houses are especially bad for hiding these issues, because everyone assumes another housemate will report it and nobody does, so a proper inspection before the new tenancy starts is worth the hour it takes.

While you’re there, check the extractor fans actually work rather than just make a noise, make sure air bricks and vents haven’t been blocked by a bed frame or a draught excluder someone shoved in the gap, and check nobody’s taped the trickle vents shut over summer, because that moisture from cooking and showering has to go somewhere once the windows stay closed. It’s also worth getting up a ladder while the weather’s still dry to check the guttering, roof tiles and render, since a small crack or a blocked downpipe now can mean water getting into the walls by the time the autumn rain sets in properly, and that’s a much more expensive fix.

Cold Spots and Insulation

Mould loves a cold surface, so external walls, window reveals and any corner that never quite warms up are the places to pay attention to. If you’ve got any refurb work planned before autumn, this is the time to top up loft insulation, sort out obvious draughts around doors and windows, and think about whether one particular room always feels colder than the rest of the house, because evening that out makes condensation far less likely and keeps the energy bills down for whoever’s living there.

Don’t Forget the Bathroom

This one gets overlooked a lot. Bathrooms are usually the coldest, dampest room in the whole house, and they’re rarely first on anyone’s list for an upgrade, but a small change here goes a long way. An electric towel radiator is one of those things that seems minor until you’ve got one; it keeps the room heated, dries towels and surfaces out properly, and cuts down on the kind of lingering damp that ends up as mould round the tiles. They’re easy enough to fit, don’t depend on the central heating being switched on, and tenants genuinely notice them, which helps if you’re hoping they’ll renew.

While you’re on the subject of heating generally, get the boiler serviced, bleed the radiators, check the thermostat isn’t lying to you, and give tenants a quick, friendly reminder about keeping the place at a sensible temperature over winter, something like 16 to 21°C where they can manage it, since that alone makes a big difference to how much moisture builds up indoors.

Keep One Eye on the Rules

Worth mentioning too that compliance is getting more expensive in some areas. A few councils are now consulting on selective licensing schemes with fees running past £1,000 per property, so it’s worth a quick check on whether your local authority is one of them, particularly since these schemes tend to target the same areas struggling with damp, cold and disrepair. Keeping the property in decent shape isn’t just about the tenant; it also matters if the council comes knocking.

Don’t Leave It Too Late

None of this has to happen all at once, but the properties that get through winter without a stream of complaints or an expensive repair bill are almost always the ones where someone walked round with a torch back in September, rather than getting a call in November about a ceiling that’s gone black.