Landlords
Void Property Repair Checklist for London Lets
Updated 2026-07-20 · 13 min read
Empty rental periods are expensive and easy to waste. The void is the best time to fix what the last tenancy revealed — failed seals, doors that never latched cleanly, stained ceilings, ironmongery held together with hope — without negotiating around furniture and work-from-home schedules. This checklist is built for London lets: flats with corridor access, houses with gardens, agents with re-let dates, and owners who want a re-lettable property rather than a theoretical perfect refurbishment. Use it to prioritise safety and water first, wet rooms second, function third, and cosmetics last. London Home Repairs works from agent lists and photo packs to turn voids into sequenced repair days. We do not invent legal standards for every certificate you may need; compliance processes remain yours with your advisers.
How to use this checklist without turning it into a novel
Print or copy the sections into your void template. For each property, mark items as pass, fail, or not applicable. Attach photos to fails. Separate “must fix before keys released” from “nice if budget allows.” Share the marked list with one decision-maker who can approve spend — voids die in committee. Do not treat every checkout comment as a rebuild instruction. Fair wear and tear, improvement desires, and genuine disrepair are different. Your inventory clerk’s language is a starting point; a contractor scope converts it into works with quantities and methods. Target the re-let date backwards. Decoration need dry time. Silicone needs cure time. Specialist trades need booking. A realistic programme beats an optimistic promise that slips a week and loses an applicant.
Safety, security and make-safe first
Start every void walkthrough with security and immediate hazards. Do entrance doors lock and latch reliably? Are there broken glazing panes, loose banisters, or missing handrail sections? Are there active leaks or electrical dangers visible? Isolate and make safe before any cosmetic work begins. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm provision should follow your compliance process and current legal requirements for the tenancy type — do not rely on a blog checklist as your only compliance tool. If alarms are missing or failing, treat that as priority alongside your certified processes. Gas and electrical safety certificates sit with qualified engineers. A void repair contractor should not “have a look” at gas. Flag boiler faults to Gas Safe engineers; flag consumer unit concerns to electricians. We coordinate fabric works around those specialisms when you manage the bookings.
Water services and leak history
Run taps, check stopcock accessibility, look under sinks for staining, and inspect ceilings for historic or active water marks. Ask the outgoing report whether there were leak disputes. A stained ceiling that is dry may need only local reboard and decoration; a soft ceiling needs opening and source confirmation. Check washing machine valves, toilet stability, shower tray junctions and bath seals. Water escape in stacked London flats is the highest-cost small defect category because it multiplies into neighbour claims and void extensions. If the property was left with heating off in winter, watch for burst history and damp patches. Document everything before trades start so you know what was pre-existing.
Wet rooms: silicone, extract, tiling and sanitaryware
Bathrooms fail re-lets quietly. Black silicone, missing grout, loose toilets, dripping taps and dead extract fans create damp complaints within weeks of a new tenancy. Strip and reseal contaminated silicone properly; bleach is not a repair. Confirm extract fans operate and that humid air has a path out. Hollow tiles, moving trays and chronic leaks need wider bathroom repair scopes — do not pay for premium silicone on a failing substrate. WC seats, silicone-grade hygiene, and stable pans are low-cost high-perception items for applicants viewing. Kitchens need similar attention at sinks, dishwashers and splash junctions. Seal and silicone failures behind appliances are easy to miss on a rushed void visit — pull out if access allows or inspect with a torch and tissue test for active drips.
Doors, ironmongery and windows
Operate every door. Entrance doors that do not latch are security failures. Internal doors that rub can often be eased or re-hinged without replacement. Fire doors in converted stock need cautious treatment — do not plane certified doorsets like hollow cores. If a door is a fire door, say so on the brief. Replace failed latches, handles and stops. Missing doorstops save skirting but are often omitted from void lists until the new tenant marks walls. Windows should open and close for ventilation and escape where designed to. Painted-shut sashes are a comfort and safety issue, not a quaint feature. Keys and fobs: audit and cut as your process requires. Lock changes after certain tenancies may be policy — coordinate locksmithing with door geometry repairs so you do not adjust a door then replace the lockset twice.
Walls, ceilings and decoration decisions
Not every void needs a full repaint. Prioritise rooms with stains, heavy marks, nicotine, or patchy previous touch-ups that will put applicants off. Hallways and living rooms carry more viewing weight than a barely used box room — allocate paint budget accordingly. Repair blown plaster and fill holes before decoration. Painting over soft board or damp stains without stain-block and substrate repair is a refund request waiting to happen. Agree whether decoration is full planes or feature walls only; vague “freshen up” scopes breed disputes. Ceiling crack patterns after leaks need diagnosis, not only filler. See our ceiling and leak guides when water history exists. Sequence dusty plaster work before final paint.
Floors and trip hazards
Walk every room for trip edges, loose vinyl seams, carpet grippers exposed, and soft timber spots. Thresholds between rooms often fail first. In kitchens and bathrooms, water-damaged flooring may need local replacement rather than whole-house flooring projects. Be honest about remaining life. A tired carpet that is clean and safe may be acceptable at a price point; frayed stairs are not. Landings and stairs are safety-critical — prioritise them over pure aesthetics in bedrooms. If you plan new flooring, complete wet trades and messy repairs first. Flooring last reduces damage to new finishes during the void programme.
Kitchen function beyond cosmetics
Open every cupboard. Check hinges, shelves, drawer bases and worktop front edges. Confirm appliance spaces are safe and that any included appliances you are responsible for operate or are clearly excluded. Worktop seals against walls and sinks prevent the slow swell that appears mid-tenancy. Siliconed-in cheap worktops with swollen chipboard may need section replacement. Matching discontinued kitchens is imperfect; agree on practical patch strategy versus partial refit early so marketing photos match reality. Extractors and cooker connections involving gas remain specialist territory. Visual fabric checks are not gas safety checks.
External, gardens and bin stores where applicable
Houses and ground-floor flats may include gardens, steps and bin areas. Clear hazardous waste, secure gates, and note broken paving that creates trip claims. Gutters overflowing onto paths should be cleared or repaired — voids in autumn are ideal for gutter attention before winter. Shared bin rooms in blocks still matter for first impressions even when freeholder-controlled; report block issues through the managing agent while you fix what is demised to you. External joinery and steps that are demised should be safe. Cosmetic garden makeovers are optional; safety and access are not.
Presentation layer: what viewers notice in ten minutes
Applicants decide quickly. Neutral clean walls in entrance sightlines, working lights, intact blinds or curtains if provided, and absence of damp smell matter more than perfect skirting mitres in a rear bedroom. Replace broken lamp shades and missing bulbs in fixtures you provide. Odour is a void killer — damp, smoke, pet. Address sources (moisture, waste) before masking. Cleaning is often a separate professional service; sequence deep clean after dusty works and before photography for listings. Minor silicone neatness, clean sanitaryware, and doors that close quietly signal a managed property. That perception supports rent and reduces early complaint load.
Documentation pack for the void
Keep: dated photos before works, the prioritised checklist, written contractor estimate, approval chain, after photos, invoices, and notes on items deferred with reasons. Future deposit disputes, owner reports and the next void all benefit from this file. We can supply photo packs of completed repair groups when you ask at booking. We do not write legal deposit adjudication statements. Factual repair records support your processes; they are not outcomes. If insurance was involved for damage, store claim references with the repair evidence.
Sequencing a multi-trade void week
A workable order for many London flats: make-safe and security → water and wet-room repairs → plaster and carpentry → decoration → flooring finishes → final clean → inventory. Overlap only where trades will not damage each other’s work. Silicone after decoration in some junctions; coordinate so paint and sealant do not fight. Empty property access allows longer productive days, but managing-agent quiet hours and parking still apply in blocks. Bundle materials to reduce lift bookings. Confirm key collection and return process so the property is never left insecure. If the re-let date is immovable, cut scope from the bottom of the priority list — cosmetics — not from water and security.
Budget bands without false precision
Light voids with silicone, doors and touch-up decoration sit in a different band from leak reinstatement plus full repaint. Photos and postcode drive written estimates; online ranges are orientation only. Parking, floor level and matching discontinued finishes move costs. Owners sometimes under-budget voids then bleed money on emergency mid-tenancy callouts. Spending on seals, doors and damp sources during void is usually cheaper than reactive work with tenants in situ. Ask for itemised estimates so you can descope consciously. A single lump sum with no line items is hard to manage against a checklist.
How to instruct London Home Repairs on a void
Send the checkout or inventory extract, photos, target re-let date, access instructions, who approves extras, and any known leak history. Mark must-fix items. We return a written package estimate or a short inspection proposal for uncertain damage. Call 020 4652 9777 or use the contact form. Related services: end-of-tenancy repairs, landlord maintenance, painting and decorating, bathroom repairs, handyman services. Related guides: end-of-tenancy repair priorities and documenting repairs for deposits. A void checklist only works when someone owns the decisions. Use this one to make those decisions faster and more consistent across your London stock.
Common void traps that waste a week
Ordering decoration before wet-room repairs so paint is damaged by resealing. Changing locks after door geometry is set, then discovering the new lockset needs a different keep position. Booking cleaners before dusty plaster work. Approving a full repaint while an active ceiling stain is still unexplained. Leaving waste in rooms that need photos for marketing. Each trap is avoidable with a one-page sequence plan taped to the void file. Another trap is under-scoping materials: discontinued tiles, non-standard ironmongery, and matched worktops need lead time. Flag specials on day one of the void, not day four when viewings start. A final trap is split authority — agent says go, owner says pause, contractor stands down, keys sit unused. Name one approver with a spend ceiling before works begin.
FAQs
Should every void get a full repaint?
Not always. Prioritise condition, odour and high-visibility rooms against budget and rent. Targeted decoration often unlocks re-let speed without painting every cupboard interior.
How fast can a void be turned around?
Light lists may take days; leak make-good and full decoration need longer for drying and cure. Share the list and re-let date for a realistic programme.
Can you work from an agent PDF only?
Yes as a starting point, especially with photos. Ambiguous damage may still need a quick inspection before a firm figure.
Do you handle gas safety or EPCs?
No — those are specialist compliance processes. We handle fabric repairs and can work around booked engineers when you coordinate dates.
What if budget only covers half the list?
We help you prioritise safety, water and function first. Deferred cosmetic items should be recorded so they are not forgotten at the next void.
Will you photograph completed works?
Yes when requested at booking — useful for owners and files. Say if you need room-by-room evidence.
How do I book a void package?
Send the checklist marks, photos and re-let date to London Home Repairs on 020 4652 9777 or via the website contact page.