Interim Inspections

Interim inspections are a great way for agents and private landlords to identify problem tenants quickly giving them the time and weight of information to tackle any issues found.  An interim inspection is a less detailed inspection than an inventory, but a report that provides up to date photos and descriptions of any issues found along with recommendations, if any, of action that may be required.  

Since the Tenant Fee ban of 2019 there has been an increase of over 70% of fraudulent applications to rent property across the UK.  The primary reason for this is that agents and landlords are unable to charge non-refundable administration fees.  A genuine tenant, who knew there credit status and confident of good references had no reason to fear of being rejected for the tenancy and losing the administration fee.

Anti-social behaviour is a constant problem in towns and cities across the UK but for neighbours of a rented property it can create issues for landlords and managing agents when they involve the local authorities or the police.  Our clerks typically work between 9am and 6pm and will occasionally be approached by neighbours who wish to complain about a variety of issues from poorly parked cars, to loud music, to large gatherings and rubbish piling up.  Many neighbours of nuisance tenants will not know who to approach to complain of issues that can often be resolved with firm communication to the tenant.  

We highly recommend attending every quarter to a property, and our reports give agents and landlords the ability to assess the quality of any recent maintenance repairs and take a view on any improvement requests made by the tenant.  Rather than carte blanche taking a tenants view on what has been completed to standard and what is and isn’t required going forward, our interim inspection reports help to better understand whether landlord investment is required, potentially saving hundreds of pounds a year on unnecessary and unwarranted work.    

One of the most challenging aspects for any landlord or agent at the moment is the prevention of illegal sub-letting of the property.  This can range from renting a spare room to a friend to make ends meet, experienced property professionals advertising on sites like AirBNB and house exchange websites making hundreds of pounds a week in doing so or even criminal gangs exposing the property to prostitution or drug related activity.  Every Buy To Let mortgage will have a sub-letting clause which can put a landlords property at risk.  If the property is a leasehold property then sub-letting is very often a material breach of the lease.  Whilst unlikely, both the freeholder or the bank could take action to call the loan in or force forfeiture of the lease.  Regular interim inspections are vital in spotting the signs of sub-letting enabling you to take the appropriate action and help protect your property from potential harm. 

Whilst we understand that being a landlord has become more and more expensive with the changes in legislation over the last decade or so, we feel it is important to understand why regular quarterly inspections are a vital part of the armoury you have in your fight against unscrupulous tenants.  

We strongly advise inspections are undertaken by us every three months throughout a tenancy – these can be booked through your client portal at your convenience.