The benefits of regular House Inspections
Regular Rental Property Inspections are beneficial for both Owners and Tenants
While Owners will rest easy knowing their Property is being well cared for, Tenants have the opportunity to raise any maintenance issues and ensure these are dealt with in a timely manner.
Regular Inspections are also a requirement of Insurance Companies offering Landlord Insurance, without which Owners can find that their cover has lapsed.
House Inspections help ensure the Tenancy Agreement is being followed:
Rental Properties must legally be kept in a reasonable state of repair.
Both Tenants and Owners have responsibilities for keeping the Property in a good condition, and there may be additional responsibilities that have been written into Tenancy Agreements.
Regular House Inspections ensure Tenants and Owners alike are adhering to the terms of the Rental Agreement.
During routine Inspections, the Owner or their Property Manager can check the state of the Property and ensure no alterations have been made outside the terms of the Contract.
This is also a time when Tenants can raise any issues they may have, such as a Owners following through on organising lawn mowing contractors or garden maintenance if this had been agreed to in the Contract.
Property maintenance issues can be highlighted and dealt with:
Regular checks ensure Tenants have ample opportunity to bring Property maintenance issues to the attention of their Landlord.
Dealing with maintenance issues in a timely manner is of benefit to both Owner and Tenant: for the comfort of the Tenant and for the good of the Rental Property.
If maintenance issues are ignored they are likely to worsen, becoming larger and more expensive to deal with and ultimately depreciating the value of your Property.
Owners and Tenants have the right to issue a 14-day notice to remedy damage if the other party has been asked to fix something but they haven’t.
If either party does not comply with the notice to remedy, the affected party can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for help. If damage is substantial, Owners can apply directly to the Tribunal without serving the 14-day notice.
House Inspections help ensure Insurance compliance:
Most Insurance providers require Owners to inspect the Property regularly as a term of the Insurance Policy.
To be compliant, Inspections must be well documented. Record the date of your Inspection and include notes and Property Inspection photos.
This is one area where having a professional Property Manager is a huge bonus. The Property Manager will manage the whole process, ensuring all the correct documentation is kept.
Inspections may help ensure Healthy Home Standards are maintained:
Another bonus of regular Inspections is Owners can ensure their Property is maintained at the correct legal standard for the Healthy Homes Regulations.
If regular checks are not made and potential issues are not brought to the attention of the Landlord, it is possible the Rental Property may fall below the legal standards for Healthy Homes.
Regular checks give Owners a chance to assess potential problem areas and ensure Tenants are living in warm, comfortable, compliant homes.
Even if the Property has already met the required Healthy Home Standards, ensuring it stays at standard is the responsibility of the Owner.
How often can an Owner inspect a Property?:
Legally, Landlords can conduct inspections every 30 days, but in practice this is likely to be an unnecessary stress on Tenants.
Three-monthly or six-monthly inspections are more reasonable and should be perfectly adequate to cover Insurance requirements and meet both the Owner’s and the Tenant’s needs. Always be mindful of a Tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment of their Property.
Routine Inspections should only take around 30 minutes to complete. At a minimum, Landlords must give 48 hours’ notice before an Inspection, and at the most, two weeks’ notice.
While Owners and Property Managers are allowed to take photos, try to avoid including the Tenant’s personal items in these photographs.