The National Landlords Association (NLA) has revealed it received a record number of calls from landlords seeking advice during 2007.

The NLA Advice Line, offering free advice during business hours to member landlords, received an average of 2,600 calls per month last year on a wide variety of topics. Throughout the year this amounted to over 31,000 individual enquiries.*

The average call took just under 13 minutes and, in April 2007 when tenancy deposit protection became mandatory, the NLA Advice Line was taking in excess of 200 telephone calls per day.

Top Five Landlord Enquiries

1. How do I go about removing a troublesome tenant?
2. What is tenancy deposit protection?
3. My tenant's housing benefit payments don't match the rent period. What can I do?
4. A student tenant wants to swap with another student, what do I do?
5. Do I need a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) licence?

However, not all the calls received were about straight-forward issues. NLA Advice Line staff have had to deal with some weird and wonderful situations over the past 12 months. Memorable stories include:

* A landlord, inspecting his property after leaving it two years, found the kitchen had been removed and installed in another room. In addition, he found a brick out-building had been demolished and a large conservatory built in its place.

* While a landlord was awaiting a court order to remove an anti-social tenant, a neighbour called her to say the tenants had left the property during the night. The landlord arrived to find the whole central heating system had been stolen. This didn't matter greatly as they had taken all the double glazing too.

* Visiting a property of a long-term tenant, a landlord found that the tenant had removed the garage door and replaced it with a brick wall and a window. The tenant then knocked through from the hallway to the garage and sub-let this 'extra room'.

* A landlord received a call from his tenant living in a first floor flat. The tenant was fairly distraught because a car, speeding on a roundabout, had flown into the living room where she had been only seconds before. Tragically the driver died in the accident but the tenant escaped serious injury.

David Salusbury , chairman, NLA, said:

"As there are more and more issues that landlords have to consider, it is unsurprising that record numbers are calling the NLA Advice Line for help. For some they are seeking confirmation of a certain course of action but for others they require more detailed advice. Most staff answering calls are themselves landlords and have years of experience to offer our member landlords who need some support.

"The NLA Advice Line remains a key benefit to our member landlords and with over 31,000 calls per year, the staff are certainly kept busy on a very broad range of topics from the mundane to the truly bizarre."