They say that landlords should undertake regular inspections of their rental properties. But how often is regular? I would not call myself an experienced landlord and so far, have only check the property three months after the new tenants moved in and after that as the need arose (ie to repair smth, etc). Does anyone else inspect their rental properties more often? Do letting agencies do this on a more regular basis?

I guess it’s entirely up to the landlord or standard practice established by the letting agency. Some letting agents in my experience inspect their properties every three months, but the tenants, of course, need to be given 24 hour written notice prior to this. Whether it's necessary or not, i'm not sure.

The agents i use tend to inspect their renatl properties after first three months and then every year. Guess, it's down to a particular agency's/landlord practice. Of course, tenants need to be informed in advance as landlords are not supposed to prevent their tenants from enjoying their private life (or smth along those lines).

My agents usually inspect the properties they manage after first three months and then every six months unless they need to chase smth up.

My son rents a flat at the moment. He moved in last year and had an initial 6 months tenancy agreement. His agents checked the flat after six months (when his tenancy came to an end). Don't think they bothered since then!

i tend to agree that it depends on what your landlord is used to. i lived in a flat where the landlord used to come every month to personally collect his rent and check the flat at the same time. Thinking back, he was either a control freak or simply had a very unpleasant experience with other tenants. There was a totally opposite arrangement in the next house i moved in to: my landlord lived in a different town and was happy for as long as i regularly transferred rent to his bank a/c. I did not like either of the arrangements as in the first instance, it seemed the guy was almost part of our family, in the second instance, i could never get through to my landlord when i needed smth to be fixed. Or, perhaps, it's just me never happy, forever moaning...

Hey Mary,

I don't run too many checks on my properties - I've found that the easiest way is to keep in touch with my tenants and be available to them, this means that if anything does break or I get a damp problem then they tell me about it and I can fix it up quicktime. You always get a chance to pop in when something needs fixing. Apart from that, if the rent is on time then I'm not so bothered and prefer to leave them their privacy.

Bear in mind that one essential thing is making sure all your certificates are up to date! Boiler inspections, fire alarms etc maybe that's what they mean by regular inspections...?

Tim

Wishes your valentine day to be joyful!