Every property that goes to market properly clears the same set of checks first. Missing one rarely stops a tenancy from happening — it just means finding out the hard way, later, at a worse time.
Legal essentials
- A valid EPC (minimum Band E, currently)
- Gas Safety Certificate, if there are gas appliances — renewed annually
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), valid and in date
- Working smoke alarms on every floor, and a carbon monoxide alarm wherever required
- Deposit protection arranged and ready to register within the statutory window
Presentation that actually matters
- A genuine deep clean, not a tidy-up — this is the single most commented-on thing at viewings
- Professional photography, taken with the property fully presented, not "good enough for now"
- Minor repairs done before marketing, not promised as "will be fixed before move-in"
Paperwork worth having ready, not scrambled for later
- A written statement of the tenancy's key terms, ready for the tenant at the start
- Right-to-rent check process confirmed — who's doing it, and how it's being recorded
- Meter readings and utility provider details, ready for handover
Why order matters here
Doing these in sequence — legal essentials, then presentation, then paperwork — avoids the common mistake of photographing a property beautifully and then discovering the EICR expired last month. The boring admin should always come first.
On every managed instruction, this checklist is handled before a property goes anywhere near a listing — happy to talk through where yours currently stands.
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