When a property is put up for let, there’s quite a lot of background checks and inspections the landlord will have gone through beforehand. After all, they need to make sure the property is safe to live in, no matter who might take up the tenancy.
Primarily, if you’re about to become a landlord for the first time, you’re going to want to stop and check for these three potential issues before you rent out your property.
Remember, it’s not just your short term profit that’s at risk here. If you invite a tenant in and they discover something wrong, not only could you lose them as a tenant, but you might not get another tenant after they leave.
Test Fire and Smoke Alarms
It’s illegal to put a property up for rent if it hasn’t been recently assessed for fire risks.
For one, you need to know where and when a fire might break out! But you also need to be able to prove that if a fire does occur, the occupants will know about it and be able to make every best effort to get out of the building.
And amongst other safety precautions, that means testing your fire and smoke alarms whenever a new tenant moves in.
You should also place carbon monoxide alarms in the property, making sure they’re placed high up, as this is the best position for the alarm to catch the gas if it is present.
Get the Water Tested
No property should go up on the market without an inspection of the quality of the water within the home.
If you want to attract a ‘good’ tenant, you need to be able to confirm the state of the plumbing, the amount of limescale in the pipes, and whether or not there’s a Legionella Risk if they use the shower.
And this is a real risk if your property has been sat without a tenant for a long time, meaning the pipes aren’t regularly flushed and there’s a higher chance of a build up occurring.
You also have a legal obligation here to make sure no bacteria is existing in your property’s water supply.
Test for Mold
If mold is growing in your property, you’ll need to remove it before you let it out to a tenant.
You don’t want signs of mold to be present when you show someone round, and you certainly don’t want mold spreading after they move in. Not only could this put the lease in jeopardy, but it’s also a health and safety risk that you could be liable for by law.
You can use a mold testing kit to detect growth in any room, but you’ll want to focus on the kitchen and any bathrooms in particular. These are the rooms where water is most likely to gather, and where air moisture levels tend to run higher.
If you’re about to rent out a property, run these tests to check its safety rating.
