The gap between completing on a rental property and receiving the first month's rent is where new landlords lose the most money. Not through anything dramatic, but through a void that runs six weeks instead of three, a tenant who looked fine on paper, or a deposit dispute that could have been settled with a better inventory.
The landlords who close that gap fastest have four suppliers ready before the keys arrive. Here's what each one does and what to look for.
1. Tenant referencing that checks the things that matter
A referencing report tells you whether an applicant can afford the rent and whether they've paid it before. The quality varies enormously. Some services run a credit check and call it done; others verify income at source, speak to previous landlords and check right to rent. With the Renters' Rights Act restricting how landlords can screen, the referencing you can do has to be done properly. We've compared the main tenant referencing services on what they actually verify and how long they take.
2. An inventory you'd be happy to show an adjudicator
Deposit disputes are decided on evidence, and the inventory is the evidence. A check-in report with dated photographs, meter readings and a condition note for every room is the difference between recovering the cost of a damaged carpet and writing it off. It can be done yourself with the right software, or outsourced to a clerk. Both routes are covered in our review of inventory services and software for landlords.
3. Furniture, if you're letting furnished
Furnished lets, and HMOs in particular, need furniture that survives tenants and meets fire regulations. Buying room by room from a high-street retailer is slow and rarely cheaper. Landlord furniture packages deliver a whole property in one go, with fire labels in place and a delivery date you can plan the let around. The trade-off is choice and quality, which is why we compared the main furniture package suppliers rather than recommending one.
4. A plan for the EPC
Minimum energy standards for rented property are rising, and the properties that need work are exactly the ones that are cheapest to buy. Retrofit is a specialist job: the wrong insulation in the wrong property creates the damp problem you were trying to avoid. The right provider will assess first and quote second. There's a review of EPC improvement and retrofit providers that covers what a proper assessment should include.
The order matters
Referencing runs while the property is being prepared. Furniture and any retrofit work happen before the inventory, never after. The inventory is the last thing before the tenant walks in. Get the sequence right and a three-week turnaround is realistic; get it wrong and every stage waits on the one before it.
