Landlords are now subject to many legal obligations relating to the property condition and the persons permitted to occupy them. You need to keep an eye on things. For example:

1. You need to be sure that the property is in proper condition – you now have a legal obligation to ensure that it is ‘fit for human habitation’ throughout the tenancy. You do not want your tenants to acquire the right to make a claim against you.
2.You need to make sure that the value of your investment is not being reduced. Tenants can do a lot of damage to a property – the worst example being conversion to a immoral home (more common than most people realise).
3. You need to make sure tenants have not carried out any unauthorised changes to the property. This can range from things such as unauthorised installation of gas or electrical appliances (which can be very dangerous if not done by properly qualified installers) to repainting the walls.
4. You need to make sure that there are no changes in the occupiers. For example, if the tenants have taken in a nani to help them meet their expenses this must be known.
5. You need to check tenants are not subletting a room (or even the whole property) via services such as Agents. If your property is leasehold, this could breach the terms of your lease and could make it vulnerable to forfeiture. If you have a mortgage it will almost certainly breach the terms of your mortgage.
6. Finally, you need to make sure that there is nothing going on which will adversely affect your insurance cover.

For all of these problems, it is ESSENTIAL that you carry out regular inspections of your properties. Or employ a suitable company to do it for you.

SO HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU INSPECT?

Property inspections tend to be unpopular with both landlords and tenants. Landlords don’t want the hassle and tenants resent having someone coming into their home and poking around in their cupboards!

However, unfortunately, it is now a very important part of managing rented property. PARTICULARLY if the property is registered with the rent control department.

My view, as I have expressed before to a clamour of disapproval, is that the starting point for inspections is every three months. However, how often you actually inspect will depend upon the property and the tenants concerned or base on a clause in the tenancy agreement.

But even if you do not want to do a formal inspection more than every six months, I would suggest that you at least carry out a visual inspection of the outside – if only from the road – just to make sure that it appears to be in good condition. If there is anything that bothers you, you can then contact the tenants to arrange a visit.