Landlord's Responsibilities Before Renting Out Their Property
Sunday 28th August 2022
As a Landlord, you must ensure your property is ready for any new Tenants.
Attracting the most responsible and careful Tenant's is vitally important. In order to achieve this, you must present them with a property that is clean, carefully cared for, and in pristine condition. The image you set at the start is the image that will be obeyed during the entire tenancy.
1. Health or Safety Checks/Repair Any Damage
At the end of each tenancy and before any new tenancy, it is essential for any Landlord or Agent to carry out all necessary safety checks to ensure the property is safe to reside in.
The property will also need to be checked for any signs of mold.
All smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors must be in working order - this should be confirmed by a Gas Safe Engineer. Any issues that were noted on the previous Check-Out must be repaired.
2. Clean The Property
This is important especially when you have just had a Tenant/s move out and have new Tenant's ready to move in.
Thus, you must take the time to clean your property if you want to attract the right Tenants. How a property is presented says a lot about what kind of Tenants you will have. You may not find it appealing to carry out a full professional clean yourself, that is why we have the adequate service in place where we would do this for you.
If it is the first time that you are renting your property out or if your property has been cleaned at Check-Out and has been vacant for a few weeks, you should still consider carrying out a light clean - vacumming all areas, removing any debris, cleaning dust etc.
3. Heating, Plumbing and Electrics Are In Working Order
All utilies will need to be checked that they are in working order.
Whether you are responsible for paying any utilities or whether the Tenant is responsible for paying for them, you are still required to carry out the necessary checks.
You will need to ensure that all radiators are working, checking if there are any visible leaks and that the socket outlets and lighting in every room are in working order. Failing to replace any non-working light bulbs before your Tenants move in, will just cause aggrevation and distress especially when the Tenants have moved in and you have contractors visiting the property to replace these, something which could be sorted prior to their arrival.
4. Change The Locks
You must ensure all necessary security checks are taken into account before your new Tenants move into the property. It is important to get a locksmith to change the locks on the doors and ensure that all window locks are in working order and that no window handles are broken/unable to open/close. This is to ensure your Tenants are safe and most importantly, you do not want an old Tenant to still have copies of the keys. To avoid any issues from arising, we advise that you spend a little to get replace the locks.