Electricity theft by criminals using rental properties for cannabis production is soaring.
Overall cases of electricity theft where there are police investigations are projected to be 13% higher this year than last, with an expected 2,200 cases.
In 23% of cases of electricity theft, police suspect it was stolen for the cultivation of illegal drugs.
Insurers say that claims from landlords whose properties have been converted into illegal cannabis farms now account for a third of the total value of all malicious damage claims.
Insurance firm Direct Line of Business said that cannabis production in rental properties can easily cause thousands of pounds worth of damage, including mould and water leakage.
The insurer is warning of tell-tale signs, including where tenants wish to pay up-front for the lease.
Comments (3)
If agents or landlords did inspections it could be weeded out easily in the rental market.
I wonder how many realise it is illegal to allow cultivation of cannabis in their properties under Section 8 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Sooner or later the industry can see someone in authority passing this extra burden onto the industry more forcibly, as they have with the long list including immigration and taxation reports to HMRC.
It doesn’t take much to know where it is going on, without even going inside …. the smell.
They need to weed out these people.
Tin pot politics again. Decriminalize but don’t legalise with regulated farms = rich drug dealers