The Risks of Letting your Property on Gumtree

Posted : 20/03/2017 | By Amanda Hosking

Many landlords choose to use letting agents to help them let their property and complete adequate checks and viewings. One main benefit of using a letting agent is that your property will be advertised in the agents store window, on their website, and on online property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. This can get your property noticed.

However, using a letting agent involves extra fees meaning you may choose not to use one and advertise/let the property yourself. There are many websites where you can advertise your property for rent, one of these is Gumtree.

Gumtree is a free ad website where individuals can advertise a variety of things including:

• Property
• Vehicles
• Material Items
• Jobs
• Pets
• Services
• Social

This means that landlords can advertise their properties for free which can be appealing. However, before you go ahead and do this you need to be aware of the potential risks involved with letting your property on Gumtree.

A recent episode of Channel 5’s ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords’ revealed the issues a landlord is facing after letting out her property on Gumtree. Vicki McNaught decided to advertise her property on Gumtree to save on letting agent fees. A young worker showed interest, provided excellent references, and moved into the flat. He said he had been privately educated and had a high-flying job in town.

However, soon after moving in the tenant stopped making his monthly rent payments, creating problems for Vicki. Paul Shamplina, creator of Landlord Action said: “This guy is a serial bad tenant. He has been evicted previously after running up costs of £30,000 in unpaid rent and stolen furniture from an overseas landlord.”


He revealed “In Vicki’s case, he used false references to secure the property”. This shows how tenants can easily provide false information to attempt to rent a property. These type of tenants are more likely to target sites like Gumtree, as they anticipate that they will not have to undergo as many checks. So be careful if you are letting your property on here.

Shamplina added: “We’ve come across many similar cases in the past where we see serial bad tenants prey on less experienced landlords who let their properties on consumer websites. Unfortunately, the majority of these landlords are deceived by well-educated con artists. With absolutely nothing in place to safeguard landlords, they find themselves in all sorts of trouble”.

This indicates how important it is that you thoroughly vet your tenants before letting to them, especially when advertising on websites such as Gumtree. Always ensure you:

• Complete a credit check on the tenant
• Ask for references
• Ask for a guarantor if possible
• Check proof of identity documents
• Be wary of tenants who seem in a hurry to move in

By vetting a tenant thoroughly, you can avoid letting out to a bad tenant. Be aware of the risks websites like Gumtree present, and be careful if you choose to use them.