00VILLA GUIDE
Maintenance when renting out a villa
A rented villa is used hard and checked rarely. Tenants report faults when they become inconvenient, which is usually after they have become expensive. The gap between tenancies is the one time a landlord has full access, an empty house and a reason to look at everything.
01PART
Between tenancies
A vacant villa can be tested in a way an occupied one cannot: every AC unit run and measured, every tap and drain run together, moisture readings on any stain, and joinery checked room by room. Repainting is also easier, but only after any damp or cracks underneath have been dealt with.
- Clean the water tank and service the pump.
- Service AC units and clear condensate drains.
- Test the electrical board and RCDs.
- Repair recurring cracks and damp before repainting.
- Reset the irrigation programme and check the pool equipment.
02PART
During a tenancy
Make reporting easy and respond to the first report. A tenant mentioning that the AC drips, the gate sticks or a breaker trips is giving early warning. Agree in advance who handles which repairs and keep the arrangement in writing.
03PART
Fix the cause, not the symptom
Rental properties collect patched repairs: a crack filled each year, a breaker reset repeatedly, a door planed again. Each patch costs a callout. Fixing the underlying cause once usually costs less over a tenancy.
04PART
Keep records
Keep dated records of what was serviced, repaired and replaced. They help when a tenant reports a fault, when the next tenancy starts, and when it is time to sell.
05QUESTIONS
- Can tenants contact you directly?
- Yes, if you agree it with them. We can confirm the arrangement before any work starts.
- Do I get a record of the work?
- Tank cleaning, electrical testing and pool water testing come with written results. For other work you are told what was found and what was done, and you can ask for it in writing.