Property Standards Guide

Before we can agree to lease your property we will need to inspect it to ensure it meets our minimum requirements. Working with local authorities, we have an obligation to provide property that is clean, safe, secure and as heat / energy efficient as it can reasonably be made. Below you will find an outline of our basic requirements to assist you. If you have any questions with regards to the suitability of your property or wish to arrange an inspection, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Roof

  • Roof to be water tight and free from defects, loose or missing tiles

Guttering

  • Pipes to be secured to walls, gutters free from blockages and in good repair

Windows

  • Free from damage and open freely
  • Maintained to good standard
  • Window restrictors where required

Garden

  • Clear of rubbish with vegetation, shrubs and trees to be cut back
  • Fences to be in good order
  • Gate/s to operate and gate posts/pillars to be secure and in place to provide security
  • Sheds or ancillary buildings to be in good repair safe otherwise to be removed or made unavailable to tenants

Rubbish

  • Bins to be provided

Doors

  • External doors to be appropriate for external use and be able to be secured with yale or chub lock
  • Doors to open freely and have a bell fitted and a clear door numbering
  • All entry systems to be in working condition and maintained
  • Internal doors to have keys removed and open freely
  • All doors with large glass panes to be fitted with safety glass or film
  • Any missing doors to be replaced

Staircases

  • Lights to be provided in stairwell
  • No broken or missing treads that may cause trip hazards

Damp

  • Property to be free from damp, mould, condensation, peeling paper etc

Condensation

  • Condensation will occur, at some time, in all homes. Condensation problems due to structural features should not be so pervasive as to constitute a health hazard.
  • Air-bricks to be installed in rooms which do not have permanent means of fresh air
  • Rooms such as bathrooms with no windows, will require mechanical ventilation.

Plaster

  • To be sound, not to show movement when examined

Decoration

  • Surfaces to be painted / or papered
  • Paint to be clean and free from obvious marking, dirt etc.
  • Wallpaper to be in good condition and free from defects
  • Wood to be free from rot and painted to a reasonable standard with gloss paint

Heating to be:

  • Gas central heating (preferred)
  • Heating system to have a timer/thermostat
  • Heating to operate independently from the hot water system
  • Details for location of off- switch to have been noted
  • Landlord to provide safety certificate every year
  • Boilers fitted in the bedroom must be fitted with Carbon Monoxide Detector, Boxed with air-vents

Electrical

  • All electrical wiring to be covered and not exposed at any point
  • All surface mounted wiring to be secure.
  • Fuse box to be housed in cupboard if within reach of children

Electrical sockets in the

  • Living rooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Kitchen (Two double at worktop height, One for fridge and one for washing machine) plus cooker point if no gas point.

Furniture (unfurnished only)

  • Minimum requirements: floor coverings free from trip hazards and in good clean condition, curtains poles, bulbs in holder and, plumbing for washing machine along with electrical or gas cooker point.

Front doors to flats

  • Internal doors leading off communal hallway MUST be half hour fire doors to meeting current building Standard

Smoke detectors and fire alarms

  • Flats should be compliant with current fire regulations and fitted with additional smoke alarms if the system is not interlinked
  • Houses and independent properties with no communal areas should be fitted with a minimum of a working and tested smoke detector on each level

Kitchen

Sockets

  • Two double sockets at worktop height
  • Two low level sockets (for fridge and washing machine)

Cooker (if fitted)

  • All rings to operate
  • Oven to be clean and with shelves
  • Landlord to provide safety certificate (as part of gas safety)
  • Landlord to maintain all breakdowns if provided

Sink

  • Tiling of splash back to a minimum of two tiles high
  • Sinks & worktops to be sealed and free of food hazard damage
  • Waste pipes & taps to be defect free, no leaks or drips.
  • Taps should be easy to operate

Units to be provided:

  • Two fitted floor units (excluding the sink unit)
  • Minimum of two drawers per unit
  • Units to be free from defects

Fridge (if provided)

  • To be clean and in good working order less than 5 years old

Washing Machine (if provided)

  • Appropriate fittings to allow installation of a washing machine
  • Non return valve to be fitted to the waste pipe

Stopcock

  • Location to be identified

Bathrooms

Bath

  • To be fitted securely
  • Tiles to be of 300mm around bath and sealed at the joints
  • Bath panels – to be free of defects particularly plastic panels

Showers (where provided)

  • Showers are not essential but where provided the landlord must ensure that their use will not do damage to the property.
  • Separate shower cubicles to be tiled to a height of 1.8 M
  • Base to be adequately sealed and curtain/door to be provided

Showers fitted above baths

  • Tiling of a sufficient height to protect the decoration of the wall (1.8M +)
  • Shower door or curtain to be supplied and should be of a sufficient standard to prevent water damage to floor
  • Any hand held shower attachment should be fixed to the wall / bracket

Washbasin

  • as for kitchen

Stopcock

  • Location to be identified

Toilet

  • Toilet to be clean, secure, free of defects, secure seat and the cistern to fill at a reasonable rate
  • Floor covering to be free of defects, vinyl preferred

Living Area and Bedrooms

Carpet

  • Carpet to be clean and of reasonable quality, free from defects staining, excessive wear etc

Curtains

  • Curtain rails to be securely fitted above all windows