Illegal Activity in Rental Property

As a landlord handing over the keys to your property, you instil a lot of trust and faith in your tenant to look after it and treat it as a home should be treated. The truth of the matter is that you don’t always know what is happening behind closed doors, and your new tenant could have an ulterior motive when signing your tenancy agreement, which could lead to illegal activity in your rental property. 

Almost half of buyers and renters check an area’s crime stats before deciding on their home and its location, as low crime rates are attractive. Overall crime in the UK has been steadily decreasing since 1995, but it is, of course, still a problem in many areas. Landlords run the risk of criminal tenants and activity anywhere in the country; however, according to the Numbeo crime index evaluating 105 towns and cities nationwide, the top five safest places to live include:

• Edinburgh
• Aberdeen
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Brighton
• Cardiff (Numbeo)

What are the different types of illegal activity in a rental property?

Now, let’s take a look at the different types of illegal activity in a rental property to give you a better idea of what to look out for. 

Cannabis Farms

Arguably, one of the largest issues and concerns facing landlords when it comes to illegal activity in a rental property is the risk of their property being used as a cannabis farm. Worryingly, 90-94% of cannabis farms are being set up in residential homes, tucked away in unsuspecting areas. With an estimated 350 tonnes needed to satisfy the UK’s user demand each year, it’s not difficult to see why cannabis cultivation is out of control in this country. In 2017, Merseyside alone closed down a whopping 214 cannabis farms, taking £22.5 million worth of the drug off the streets. 

The laws around cannabis cultivation are pretty strict – so much so that if it’s produced or supplied from premises for which you are the landlord, you could be hit by the same penalties as those actually conducting the activities. That could mean an unlimited fine, a prison sentence of up to 14 years, or both. It goes without saying that it’s a problem that landlords need to be aware of and take measures to prevent.

Drugs

It’s not just cannabis causing problems for landlords. Illicit drugs in general in the UK are an issue. From 2023-2025, around 3.1 million (aged 16–59) people in England and Wales had used illicit drugs in the last year, and the police recorded 204,664 drug offences. Sadly, rentals can often be a hot spot for drugs. The privacy of a residential property means that drugs can be made, drug deals can be executed, and people can use drugs without the prying eyes of the authorities or the public. 

Tenants involved in drug culture, whether that’s using, making, or selling, can attract crime to an area, posing a threat to neighbours and can often leave a property damaged due to abuse or neglect. One of the main issues with drugs as an illegal activity in a rental property is that a tenant with a drug addiction may struggle to look after themselves, let alone a property. 

Across England, there are roughly 17,000 to 20,000 hospital admissions per year where drug misuse is the primary diagnosis, with cocaine making up a fraction of that total (with cannabis and opioids traditionally making up larger shares of primary mental health behavioural admissions).

Brothels

Another type of illegal activity in a rental property is brothels. Again, due to the unregulated and private environment, brothels and pop-up brothels are increasingly common in both rented property and holiday homes such as Airbnbs. 

While the vast majority of the UK’s tens of thousands of sex workers now operate indoors away from street-level policing, the rise of ‘pop-up brothels’ in short-term holiday rentals remains a challenge. Historical police data from areas like Swindon highlighted that organised networks can actively maintain up to 30 transient brothels across a single town at any given time. (BBC News)

Britain has an estimated 102,000 sex workers (Weitzer, et al. 2), but there has been a dramatic shift to online subscription platforms in more recent years. This is another reason for less of the traditional street-level visibility. 

Aside from possible property damage and very unhappy neighbours, Landlords could be left in a tricky situation with the law with this type of illegal activity in the rental property. The laws around sex work in the UK are slightly complicated. Whilst prostitution (the exchange of sexual services for money) is legal, a number of related activities, such as soliciting in a public place, kerb-crawling, pimping, and owning or managing a brothel, are against the law. Any premises that two or more sex workers operate from are classed as a brothel, even if said workers are only working one at a time. Many people argue that operating in pairs or groups is the safest way for prostitutes to carry out their work, and that may be the reason why more and more brothels are appearing. There are even calls to legalise brothels in the UK to help protect sex workers. 

Subletting

Subletting is another form of illegal activity in a rental property that you may face. 1 in 6 people have sublet their home to someone who isn’t on the tenancy agreement. A quarter of those did not check the terms of their tenancy agreement to see if it was permitted. 34% didn’t inform their landlord, and 23% of these people ended up getting caught. 

Landlords can take legal action against a tenant if they sublet without permission, as the subtenant can be seen as a trespasser. If you are a social housing landlord and you encounter subletting, your tenant may also be committing a criminal offence and could be prosecuted under criminal law. Tenants may choose to sublet for a number of reasons. Perhaps they need to move out of the property early as they need to relocate for work, but their tenancy agreement doesn’t permit them to do so – they may get someone looking for a short let to move in and pay the rent until the lease is up.

Illegal Gambling Dens

Illegal gambling not only puts the welfare of gambling addicts or potential gambling addicts at risk, but it has also been linked to organised crime networks that are often linked to corruption, money laundering, and, in the worst cases, human trafficking. 

They are also often rigged, resulting in a lose-lose situation for vulnerable gamblers. In the UK, between 1.3 million and 1.4 million adults have a gambling problem, with 3.1% facing high risk with gambling.

In the same way that drug dens and brothels have found their place in rental property, these gambling dens have been known to follow suit, quickly becoming another type of illegal activity in a rental property.

What Can I Do About Illegal Activity in a Rental Property?

Now that you are aware of the different types of illegal activity in a rental property, here are the steps that you can take to ensure your property, as well as your community, remains safe. 

• Step 1: Document everything and make sure you report everything to the police. You should also make sure that you contact your insurer to let them know what has happened. 
• Step 2: Next, you should begin the Section 8 Evictions process. 
• Step 3: The third step in the process is to secure a court date if the tenant refuses to go along with the Section 8 Eviction. If you have been able to prove Ground 7A or have built a solid case for Ground 14, the judge will grant a possession order, typically giving the tenant 14 days
• Step 4: The last step will be formal enforcement if the tenant is still in the property after the 14-day period. You need to make sure that you don’t go to the property by yourself. You’ll need to instruct County Court Bailiffs or apply to escalate the case to High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) to execute a warrant of possession.

To give you peace of mind when renting out your property, consider taking out a landlord insurance policy. You can compare landlord insurance quotes with us and cover yourself against loss of rent, malicious damage, and more. To find out more, get a quote or call us on 01788 818 670.