RESIDENTIALlettings
Weed them out! How do you stop a property becoming a drugs factory? Here’s some advice.
I
t hasn’t hit the headlines much lately but the menace of the cannabis factory – or farm – has not gone away, leaving landlords in the frontline
for accusations of illegal drug production. Police forces across the UK report that
more and more cannabis factories are cropping up in private rented houses, turning these otherwise innocuous properties, located in ordinary streets, into engines for organised crime.
A NATIONAL ISSUE
The problem is national, occurring in towns and cities the length and breadth of Britain, affecting both inner city and suburban districts. Dorset has seen the number of cannabis farms and factories discovered rise by a shocking 550 per cent rise over the last two years. Police uncovered 93 farms in the last 12 months, compared to 15 in 2009/10. The increase is the third highest in
54 AUGUST 2012 PROPERTYdrum
20 cannabis farms are discovered every day in England and Wales.’
England and Wales, with the biggest rise of 989 per cent in the Devon and Cornwall police area. More than 20 farms and factories are uncovered every day in England and Wales. (Source: The Association of Chief Police Officers in May 2012). Cannabis is no longer an exotic – if
illegal – foreign import; it might be grown up the street, even next door, putting landlords in a difficult position, after all it is their properties that risk being ‘hi-jacked’ to cultivate the cannabis plants; whether they want the role or not, then, landlords have effectively gained a ‘gatekeeping’ role. Keeping in with the neighbours to rely on the community’s eyes and ears can be a real help in early detection of criminal activity.
KNOW THE RISK
Michael Portman, MD of LetRisks says the issues, quite aside from the criminality, can be massive, “Landlords are allowing their property to be rented in good faith and then finding it has been turned into a cannabis factory, leaving them with a huge bill. Prevention is clearly better than cure, not just for the sake of the landlord but the neighbours and wider community. The costs of falling foul of this nefarious ‘horticultural’ enterprise can be costly for the landlord. “The damage can be extensive, with
internal walls ripped out. The equipment used to provide the heat and light needed to nurture the plants is energy intensive, often with the electricity metering
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