Guides / Letting
Getting a rental ready between tenants: the landlord checklist
Every void week has a price on it. Plan the turnaround before the tenant leaves, not after.
6 min read
A two-bed flat letting at £1,900 a month costs about £440 a week to leave empty. A refresh that takes three weeks instead of one has quietly cost you £880 on top of the invoice. Speed is a financial decision, not a preference.
Before the tenancy ends
- Do a pre-exit inspection four weeks out so you know what's coming
- Book the works for the day after check-out
- Line up the check-out inventory and the deposit position
- Re-list before the work is finished, using dates rather than photos if you must
The turnaround itself
| Day | Work |
|---|---|
| 1 | Check-out, clearance, assess |
| 2–3 | Repairs and making good |
| 3–6 | Painting: walls, ceilings, woodwork |
| 6–7 | Floors cleaned or replaced |
| 7–8 | Garden or balcony, deep clean, photos |
What tenants actually notice at viewings
- Whether the place smells clean
- Bathroom sealant and grout
- Whether the oven has ever been cleaned
- Marks and scuffs on the walls of the room they'd sleep in
- Whether the outside space is usable
Repaint every tenancy, or every other?
Most landlords get two tenancies out of a paint job if tenants were careful, one if they weren't. Touching up in the same paint you used last time is far cheaper than a full repaint — worth keeping a record of the colours.
A short void with a fresh flat beats a long void with a perfect one, every single time.
The Presentable way
We do all of the above as one job: painting, small repairs, carpets, garden tidy and a deep clean, for one fixed price, finished in less than two weeks.