The accidental landlord: tenant 'emergencies' are often anything but

All plans I had for the weekend went out of the window when I was called to attend not one but two plumbing emergencies.

The first was a faulty lavatory inlet valve, which had flooded the ground floor of my rental flat.

It was quickly dealt with, but I had to pay £140 to an out-of-hours plumber because I was sure that if I tried to replace the valve myself I’d almost certainly make the problem even worse.

The second emergency was at another of my rental flats.

The people living immediately below complained the communal drain was blocked and overflowing on to their patio. For some reason, they’d decided my tenants were to blame for the blockage, so asked me to deal with it.

It was the second time in six months this drain has blocked and on the first occasion my flat was empty, so I wasn’t sure what justification the neighbours had for blaming my tenants, but anyway, I decided I’d better take a look.

Armed with drain rods, bin bags to cover my limbs, a broom and a hosepipe, I went prepared to fight a fatberg but found a pile of rotting leaves blocking the grate, preventing waste water from the sinks in both flats from flowing down the drain.

I scooped out the leaves and hey presto! Sorted. If the owner of the building had only kept the drain clear, it would have saved me a trip.

Still, I’m well used to being called to deal with so-called emergencies at my rental properties.

There was the girl who called to bleat that the central heating wasn’t working the first time she tried to put it on. She insisted the boiler was broken and wanted me to send out a plumber.

I asked if she’d turned up the thermostat, which I’d pointed out when she moved in. She insisted she had, so I went to check. It was on zero.