Mid-term inspections are often treated as a box-ticking visit: a quick look round, a note that everything seems fine, and a diary reminder for six months’ time. Done that way they achieve very little. Done properly, they catch maintenance problems before they become expensive, identify tenancy breaches while they can still be addressed, and produce a dated record that strengthens the landlord’s position at check-out.
This guide sets out what a mid-term inspection should cover, how it differs from a check-in or check-out, and how the findings should be recorded so they are useful later.
Purpose and tone
A mid-term inspection has three jobs: to check the property is being looked after, to identify maintenance the landlord needs to address, and to confirm the tenancy is being conducted in line with the agreement. It is not an opportunity to re-inventory the property, and it is not a check-out rehearsal. The tenant is living there; the property will look lived in. The question is whether anything is going wrong, not whether it is showroom-tidy.
Tenants must be given at least 24 hours’ written notice and the inspection should take place at a reasonable time. Most tenancy agreements provide for inspections at set intervals; the first is usually best around three months in, when any early problems with the tenancy or the property have had time to show, and thereafter every six months for a well-run tenancy.
Maintenance and condition: the landlord’s interest
Work through the property looking for anything that needs the landlord’s attention. Signs of damp or condensation, particularly black mould in corners, around windows and behind furniture. Leaks under sinks, around baths and showers, and at the base of toilets. Cracked or missing sealant. The boiler, its pressure and any error codes. Radiators that are cold or leaking. Extractor fans that do not run. Windows that do not open or close properly. Loose tiles, lifting flooring, damaged plaster. Externally, guttering, roof tiles visible from the ground, fence panels, gates and paths.
The value here is early detection. A small leak under a bath found at six months costs a plumber’s visit. The same leak found at check-out two years later has rotted the floor. Recording it, and recording that the landlord was notified, also protects the landlord: it shows the problem was identified and shows what was done about it.
Tenant care of the property
Separately, note how the property is being kept. This is not about tidiness. It is about whether anything is happening that will cause damage or a deduction dispute later: evidence of smoking where the tenancy prohibits it; evidence of pets where none are permitted; overloaded electrical sockets; furniture pushed hard against external walls contributing to condensation; unreported damage; alterations such as new fixings, painted walls or removed fittings; a garden that has been left to go wild where the tenant is responsible for it.
Where something is found, the report should describe it neutrally and factually. The purpose is to give the agency a basis for a conversation with the tenant, and to create a dated record that the issue was raised. If the tenant is later held responsible for damage from an unreported leak, a mid-term report showing the leak was visible and not reported is significant evidence.
Occupancy and use
Note anything suggesting the property is being used other than as agreed: more occupants than the tenancy permits, signs of subletting, evidence of a business being run from the property, or rooms locked and inaccessible. These are matters for the agency to follow up, not for the clerk to investigate, but recording what was observed is the starting point.
Safety items
Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and record the result. Check that fire doors in an HMO close properly. Note whether the tenant has disabled or removed any alarms, which is both a safety issue and a breach. Check that means of escape are not obstructed. Record the boiler pressure and any visible service labels.
Meter readings
Take and photograph meter readings. They are rarely needed but occasionally invaluable, particularly if a tenant later disputes a bill or leaves without providing final readings.
How the report should be structured
A mid-term report should be short and scannable. A summary at the top: overall condition, any urgent maintenance, any tenancy concerns. Then a room-by-room section with photographs of anything noteworthy, and a brief note where a room is fine. Then a clear actions list split into landlord actions and tenant actions. It should not attempt to describe every item in every room; that is the inventory’s job. It should describe changes and concerns.
Photographs should be taken of every issue raised, and of general room views for context. Where an issue relates to something recorded in the check-in report, referencing the check-in entry makes the two documents work together.
Following up
The inspection is only useful if the actions are actioned. Landlord maintenance should be raised promptly and the completion recorded. Tenant issues should be communicated in writing, with a reasonable time to remedy, and the outcome noted. At the next inspection, the previous report’s actions are the first thing to check. Over the course of a tenancy this produces a continuous record of how the property was cared for by both sides, and that record is what makes the check-out straightforward.
An inspection that finds nothing is still worth doing and still worth recording. “No issues identified, property well kept, alarms tested and working, meter readings attached” is a dated statement that the tenant was looking after the property at that point, and it is evidence in the tenant’s favour as much as the landlord’s.