Having decided to offer a property to the rental market, it pays to be organised! The following guide is intended to assist new Landlord’s in preparing a property for its first tenancy.

The following certifications are now legally required prior to a Tenant taking up occupation in your property:

• Gas Safety Certificate (GSC): this certificate, issued by a Corgi registered gas engineer, is required in order to prove that any gas appliances are safe for use. A repeat check is required every 12 months.
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): from October 2008 EPCs will be required whenever a building is built, sold or rented out. The certificate provides 'A' to 'G' ratings for the building, with 'A' being the most energy efficient and 'G' being the least. Accredited energy assessors produce EPCs alongside an associated report which suggests improvements to make a building more energy efficient.

Your Agent can arrange the required checks via a recommended contractor prior to the start of the tenancy.

Perhaps you have not yet decided whether to offer your property unfurnished, part-furnished or fully furnished. Your Agent will go through the options with you and suggest the level of furnishing which will prove most attractive to prospective Tenants.

Generally speaking, the level of furnishing can be described as follows:

• An unfurnished property will still typically contain:
• White goods (washing machine, fridge freezer, oven and hob or cooker)
• Possibly small kitchen electricals such as a microwave
• Window dressings (curtain poles/tracks and blinds, curtains etc)
• Light fittings and light shades


• A furnished property will contain all of the above, plus:
• Lounge seating (sofa, armchairs etc)
• Dining furniture
• Beds
• Cabinet furniture (chests of drawers, wardrobes etc)


• A fully furnished property will contain all of the above, plus:
• Other kitchen electricals (kettle, toaster, iron etc)
• Kitchen equipment (crockery, cutlery, cookware, glassware etc)
• Rugs, pictures, lamps, mirrors etc
• Bed and bath linen (if required, most Tenants prefer to use their own)
• Other items of furniture not already mentioned above

It is wise to remove any and all objects which will not serve any purpose to the Tenant’s. For example, you may think it useful to keep a large collection of well-worn plastic Tupperware boxes or kitchen utensils stuffed into a drawer or cupboard which is also home to various take-away menus, bits of string and empty, un-refillable lighters, but it is very unlikely that a Tenant will benefit from any of this “junk”.

Likewise, heaps of ancient, threadbare towels and duvet covers, along with half-dead house plants in chipped pots and your Grandmother’s collection of stuffed ferrets, will not provide a Tenant with a welcoming atmosphere into their new home.

Similarly, it will make cleaning a far harder chore and will result in presenting the property, overall, as seemingly uncared for.

It is also wise to remove any valuable items, or those with particular sentimental value. Although an inventory clerk will catalogue every item in the property, they are not able to place a perceived value on a singular item or items.

It is important to note that all upholstery must comply with current fire regulations.

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989, 1993 and 1996), and other regulations provide that specified items supplied in the course of letting property must meet minimum fire resistance standards.

The regulations apply to all upholstered furniture, beds, headboards and mattresses, sofa beds, futons and other convertibles, nursery furniture, garden furniture suitable for use in a dwelling, scatter cushions, pillows and non-original covers for furniture.

They do not apply to antique furniture or furniture made before 1950, bed covers including duvets, loose covers for mattresses, pillowcases, curtains, carpets or sleeping bags. Items which comply will have a suitable permanent label attached.

Non-compliant items or items without labels must be removed before a tenancy commences.

• Ensure all appliances are in working order, with the correct user instruction manuals, as applicable
• Ensure all keys are tagged and there is one set of keys for the main point of entry for each person named on the tenancy agreement
• Ensure all light bulbs are working
• Ensure all window keys are present and tagged according to which locks they operate

All properties built since June 1992 must have been fitted with mains powered smoke detector alarms from new. Although there is no legislation requiring smoke alarms to be fitted in other ordinary tenanted properties, it is generally considered that the common law 'duty of care' means that Landlords and their Agents could be liable should a fire cause injury or damage in a tenanted property where smoke alarms are not fitted.

It is therefore strongly recommend that the Landlord fit at least one alarm on each floor (in the hall and landing areas) and that they are tested and if necessary batteries replaced before a tenancy begins. The tenant is responsible for checking operation and battery condition during the tenancy.

An inventory clerk will visit the property, with the Tenants, on the first day of the tenancy to go through the inventory to ensure it presents a fair description of the condition of the property and its contents.

The inventory clerk will complete a check-in declaration, summarising the overall condition and cleanliness of the property. This document is signed by the Tenant’s and forms part of the full inventory document.

To assist your inventory clerk, it is useful to:

• ensure the GSC and EPC are available for inspection by the inventory clerk at the Tenant check-in
• leave a note to aid locating the utility services meters if they are in hard to find locations