#AskTDS: "I'm going on holiday - do I need to tell my landlord?"

As Christmas approaches many tenants will be planning to go on holiday, whether to see family, friends or to head abroad for the festive period; but do you need to tell your landlord/agent if you’re leaving the property empty?

It is likely that your tenancy agreement contains a clause outlining your responsibilities as tenant when leaving your rental property empty.  The clause should explain the circumstances in which you need to tell your landlord/agent - for instance, how many days it can be left empty before the landlord/agent must be informed.

Most insurance policies will set out instructions for periods of absence and failure to comply with these may invalidate the insurance for the property. It is therefore important that landlords/letting agents outline in the tenancy agreement the tenant’s responsibilities for empty periods - making sure these reflect with any insurance policies held on the property. Tenants of course must make sure they comply with these – if the insurance policy is invalidated, tenants will be responsible themselves for any loss or damage!

If you do not have a clause concerning absences in your tenancy agreement, it is still best practice to keep your landlord/agent informed for both security and maintenance purposes. This would allow for appropriate checks to be done, in your absence, to alert the landlord/agent to any maintenance issues that may have occurred.  This will allow them to act on these issues to prevent any further damage being caused.

Above all remember that if you don’t tell your landlord that you are away from the property and during that time there is damage from problems such as leaks or burst pipes, your landlord could seek deductions from your deposit to cover any additional loss they may have suffered.

I’m thinking of spending Christmas in my rental property and wish to invite my relatives for dinner, is this ok?

If you’re not heading away for the festive period and instead choose to celebrate Christmas in your rental property, it may be worth considering these points. Before inviting guests over, you should remember that the tenant remains responsible for maintaining the rental property – which means they are responsible for damage caused by friends/family. Why not consider asking guests to remove their shoes to protect the carpets from muddy footprints or damage to wooden/laminate flooring from high heeled shoes?

About TDS

Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is a Government-approved scheme for the protection of tenancy deposits; TDS offers both Insured and Custodial protection and also provides fair adjudication for disputes that arise over the tenancy deposits that we protect.

We provide invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and disputes for agents and landlords through the TDS Academy as well as joining with MOL to provide the Technical Award in Residential Tenancy Deposits.

TDS Insured Scheme: where a TDS member can hold the tenancy deposits as stakeholder during the term of the tenancy.

TDS Custodial Scheme: where TDS hold the deposit for the duration of the tenancy.

TDS Academy: TDS provides property professionals with invaluable training in tenancy deposit protection and tenancy deposit disputes.

TDS Northern Ireland: TDS is Northern Ireland's leading and only not for profit tenancy deposit protection scheme.

TDS can only comment on the process for our scheme, other deposit protection schemes may have a different process/require different steps. Content is correct at the time of writing.

These views are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the view of TDS, its officers and employees.

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