Holiday Let Security

Recently, I attended a job where a family holidaying in Norfolk were demanding widow locks to be fitted to the upstairs windows. The gentleman was very apologetic for getting the property owner to call me out and said I must think he was being over cautious, not because of any security issue, but because he was worried his toddlers might open a window and fall out. I was actually more surprised that the property owner hadn’t already thought about this, especially as the windows were very low with a deep enough sill for an adult to sit or a toddler to play on.

window

The fact is, if you own a holiday cottage, you should really make sure that every possible opening has a working lock on it.

Families don’t just bring their clothes and a Frisbee on holiday any more. They bring their mobile phones and ,possibly, tablets and hand held games consoles as well. My own children seem to go into meltdown if they can’t take at least one gadget on holiday to get their fix of screen time.Some adults may bring their work laptops so that they can keep abreast of what they will be coming back to after the holiday (or more likely, catch up on who’s posting what on social media). All this means the holiday cottage owner is more obliged to make sure the security of the property where all these expensive gadgets will be kept, should be properly protected. I know from experience too many properties in Norfolk do not have the correct locks for home insurance, and this includes plenty of holiday lets.

Norfolk windmillI therefore urge holiday let owners to have regular security checks and lock services. And holiday makers, check that your cottage does have adequate locks. You are quite within your rights to have a safe and secure home to live in for the duration of your stay.

I know many owners buy these second properties as an investment for topping up the pension. But the pension will not be topped up if you are spending it on compensation claims.

If you have any questions regarding the above topic, or any of my other blogs, please get in touch via any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin September 29, 2016

urity in Holiday Lets /

Holiday Home Security and Lock Maintenance

Lock maintenance

The summer season is well and truly over as the sky turns grey and the cold, wet weather moves in. If you have a holiday home that you let out during the summer months, now is the perfect time to review the condition of your locks and security.

Holiday home security
In my job I see holiday homes catering for all budgets, from basic amenities, to home from home comfort with installed luxuries like internet connection and satellite TV. But no matter what the level you are offering, it is always embarrassing when your customer’s holiday is set back by problems with the locks, and they find themselves locked out (or in some cases, locked in) because the locks have not been maintained properly.

Most property service companies are reactionary, so even though the problem will be resolved, it can still lead to you having to refund a customer and can even mean you have to cancel bookings, which has the knock on effect of possibly losing you recommendation business in the future. While maintenance is not an absolute guarantee that nothing will go wrong, you can at least rest in the knowledge you have done all you can to give your customers a hassle free holiday, and you not wasting time chasing property managers to get the job done.

Holiday homes with multi-point locking systems on their doors are probably the most likely to create problems, particularly if they are near the sea. Moisture creates rust, especially when these mechanisms are set into wooden doors and customers slam doors or leave them open to blow in the wind. These doors should have a service at least once a year, but preferably at the start and end of high season.

Yale locks seem to cause no end of problems with people managing to deadlock the door while it is open and then slam the door, effectively locking them in unless someone unlocks the door from the outside. Standard Yale type locks should be replaced with BSI3621 models to avoid this and other problems.

Mortice locks can throw up a problem where a part inside slips and it becomes impossible to insert the key. These locks should be checked by removing from the door and checking the tightness of the screws as wooden door expansion and contraction can loosen these screws.

These are just some of the problems to be avoided. There are many more. But the good news is that you can guard against all this for free. The cost of routine maintenance carried out by a professional locksmith is a business expense and therefore can be claimed as part of your expenses when submitting tax returns, effectively making the work free.

AC Locksmiths is ready to take on regular contract work to maintain the locks of your holiday home. I can liaise with your letting company to coincide maintenance with changeover periods and help prevent the problem that can mean your customers demand their money back. Should you require any more information on the above subjects, please contact via any of the methods listed on the contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

admin October 22, 2015

Holiday home security / Home maintenance / Lock maintenance / Rented property /

Holiday Home Locks

Holiday Home lock maintenance

I have just returned from yet another job where the multi-point locking mechanism had seized and needed replacing. The property in question was a holiday home near Sea Palling and very close to the beach. The mechanism had shoot bolts top and bottom, which had rusted and jammed. While they were in the process of rusting, various users of the property had used ever increasing force to operate the mechanism until the latest customers just couldn’t open the door.

This made the room incredibly hot as the only other method of ventilation was a small window, and there were non-opening windows which were large and in direct sunlight. It would appear that in addition to the cost of the work being done, the property owner is going to have to refund some of the cost of the clients’ holiday.

But as in 99% of these cases, the costs could have been avoided with just a little maintenance. All multi-point locking mechanisms need oiling at least on a six monthly basis. However you should also check for signs of rust. With mechanisms that have shoot bolts, water often collects in the bottom bolt hole which seeps up and makes the bottom bolt rust. This one was unusual in that the water must have been slowly dripping and pooling at the top of the door and it was the top bolt that rusted. When I took the mechanism off the door, I also found it to have sand grinding in places you wouldn’t normally see.

Were this to be a normal home, I could have shown the customer what to do and everything would have been fine, but holiday homes can be difficult. I was asked to do this job by a holiday let company who in turn use a property management company. The owner is happy for them to do what needs to be done when they see fit. But the property management company has lots of properties to get through on change-over days and therefore only has time to do the necessary cleaning, etc. The letting company do not have time to be anything more than reactionary to problems either, especially during high season.

With all this in mind, if you run a holiday home through a company, be specific about anything beyond standard requirements, including regular servicing of the locks, or if you use the property yourself, make time during your own visit to do the maintenance yourself, especially if your property is near the beach.

If you are unsure of how to proceed, contact your local locksmith. He or she should be able to set up a schedule around your bookings to service everything properly. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contacts page.

Thanks for reading!

admin February 26, 2015

Holiday Home lock maintenance /

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