Getting Your Property Tenant-Ready: A Practical Checklist for Plymouth Landlords
While you are thinking through your next steps, this checklist is worth working through regardless of which direction you go. Getting your property into the right shape before it goes to market will help it let faster, attract better tenants, and set the tone for the entire tenancy.
None of this needs to be expensive. Most of it is common sense applied carefully.
The Legal Essentials: Non-Negotiable
Before anything else, these must be in place before a tenant can legally move in.
Gas Safety Certificate. Required annually if the property has gas. Must be issued by a Gas Safe registered engineer and given to the tenant before they move in.
Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Required at least every five years. Any remedial work identified must be carried out before letting.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rated E or above. You cannot legally let a property rated F or G.
Smoke alarms on every floor and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid fuel appliance. Must be tested on the first day of the tenancy.
Legionella risk assessment. Required for all rental properties. Straightforward for most standard homes but needs to be documented.
If you are not sure where any of these stand for your property, we can help you work through it.
The Practical Preparation
Do a room by room inspection. Check every window, door, lock, tap, socket, and appliance. Make a list as you go and work through it methodically. Do not leave repairs to sort out once a tenant is already in.
Deep clean throughout. Inside cupboards, behind appliances, bathroom grout, oven, window sills, everything. A property that feels genuinely clean tells a prospective tenant a lot about how it has been looked after and the kind of landlord they are dealing with.
Check all white goods and appliances. If you are leaving a washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, or oven, make sure everything works properly. Ageing appliances that are likely to fail in the first few months of a tenancy create an unnecessary headache for everyone.
Neutralise the décor where needed. Simple, neutral presentation helps tenants imagine the property as their own and photographs better. Bold or heavily personalised decoration can put people off even if the property is otherwise excellent.
Sort the outside. Tidy the garden, clear any rubbish, and make sure the entrance to the property looks welcoming. First impressions count for tenants viewing a property just as much as they do for buyers.
Before You Market
Decide what stays and what goes. Be clear about what you are including in the let and remove anything you are not. Do not leave a property in a half-emptied state when tenants come to view.
Commission a professional inventory. An accurate, photographed inventory taken before the tenancy begins is one of the most important documents you will have as a landlord. It is your reference point at the end of the tenancy and your protection if there is a dispute over the deposit.
Have a spare set of keys cut. One set per tenant, plus a spare held by your agent.
A Note on Presentation for Viewings
The properties that let quickly and attract the most reliable tenants are the ones that have been properly prepared and are presented honestly. In Plymouth's rental market, good quality properties at the right price rarely sit empty for long.
When we market a property, we use professional photography as standard because we know how much it matters. But great photography needs a well-prepared property behind it. Get the preparation right and everything else follows.
We hope this is useful as you are thinking through your plans. If you have any questions about what needs to be done to your specific property, or you are ready to have a conversation about moving forward, just give us a call.