Renting to young families: making sure a home is safe for all occupants, including children

As the accidental landlord lets to a family with small children, what preparations should she do to child-proof the home?

£585 per week: a two-double bedroom furnished flat with a refurbished bathroom and quiet courtyard garden in a period building in Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, is available for long-term let through Hamptons (020 8012 2905).

Victoria Whitlock5 March 2018

After years of letting to students, young professionals and child-free couples, I’m quite nervous about letting to a family with two small children. This toddler and his infant sister might look innocent with their big brown eyes and adorable smiles, but they can’t fool me. I’m a mum and I know how destructive children can be.

As their mother proudly introduces me to her two bundles of joy, all I can see are four sticky hands that are going to smear gunk all over the walls of my flat, and four little feet that will tread mashed banana and Play-Doh into the carpets.

However, it’s not the mess they are bound to make that’s really bothering me. What worries me most is that these two little kids might sustain an injury in my flat, which wasn’t really designed with families in mind.

It’s a long time since my own children were small, so I can’t remember exactly what you need to do to child-proof a home. As a parent, I didn’t rely on safety devices such as stair gates and socket covers, preferring instead to train my brood not to throw themselves headfirst down the stairs or poke their fingers into electrical sockets. But as a landlord, I am responsible for making sure the property is safe for all occupants, including children.

So before the family arrives, I walk through the flat looking for potential hazards. All the windows are high and they all have locks, so no worries there, and the only glass door is safety glass, so should withstand a flung rattle or plastic toy, or a child slamming into it.

However, I notice for the first time that the Venetian blinds covering all of the windows have cords that dangle to the floor. I wonder if these are a hazard, and when I Google “are blinds dangerous” I discover that yes, they are potentially deadly, as small children can get the cords tangled round their necks. Clearly I can’t leave them dangling, so I buy half a dozen cleats, one for each blind, so the cords can be tied away well out of reach of little fingers.

I realise, too, that a small child could pull the TV from its low stand with potentially disastrous results. The TV’s not designed to attach to the wall, so I discuss with the tenant the possibility of removing it altogether. She insists on keeping it, so instead I run to Ikea and buy a sturdy higher unit, which will put it out of reach of even a ninja-like toddler.

The outside metal staircase leading to the garden is also of concern to me, as a child could crawl under or climb over the handrail on to the flat roof of the flat below, but I can’t work out how to prevent this. The tenant doesn’t seem bothered and promises to supervise the children when they are outside. I write a clause into the tenancy agreement pointing out that it is her responsibility to do so.

I think I’ve covered everything, but when I go round to check that the family is settling in okay, I see I have overlooked a major hazard. The spindles on the first-floor banister are spaced far enough apart for an infant to squeeze between them. Thankfully the mum spotted the problem and attached large squares of cardboard to the banister as a temporary safety measure. Her husband has since attached plywood as a more permanent solution.