A thorough property inspection catches problems before guests do. Use this room-by-room checklist to protect your reviews, your property, and your peace of mind.
Every experienced holiday rental host has a story about a problem that could have been caught earlier: the slowly developing damp patch that went unnoticed until a guest photographed it and posted it in a review; the hot water thermostat that had been running at an unsafe temperature for months; the fire extinguisher whose inspection date passed a year ago. These aren't unusual stories — they're what happens when inspection isn't built into the routine.
Property inspections serve three critical purposes:
A property inspection is not the same as a cleaning check. While a cleaning check focuses on whether the property is clean and ready for the next guest, an inspection goes deeper — looking at the physical state of the property, safety compliance, the condition of furnishings and fixtures, and anything that requires maintenance or replacement.
This checklist covers everything you need to inspect, organised by area, with a note on how frequently each check should happen.
The right inspection frequency depends on how busy your property is. As a general guideline:
Don't rely entirely on cleaner reports as a substitute for inspections. Cleaners are looking for cleanliness issues; they aren't trained to assess whether a boiler is due for service or whether the wiring in a lamp looks safe.
Safety and access:
Garden and outdoor spaces:
Gutters and roofline:
Furniture and furnishings:
Technology:
Safety:
Appliances:
Plumbing:
Consumables and inventory:
Furniture and fittings:
Safety and comfort:
Plumbing and water:
Condition:
Stocking:
This section consolidates the legally required and strongly recommended safety items for UK holiday lets:
Note: regulations differ in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Always check local requirements.
An inspection that isn't documented hasn't happened — not in any way that helps you legally, financially, or operationally. Your inspection record should include:
Store inspection records for at least 3 years. For safety compliance documents (gas certificates, EICRs), store them for the lifetime of the document plus at least one renewal cycle.
Every issue found during an inspection should immediately become a maintenance task: described, assigned to a specific person, given a priority level, and given a deadline. An issue noted in an inspection that isn't tracked is almost certain to be forgotten.
High-priority issues (anything safety-related, anything affecting the basic habitability of the property) should be resolved before the next guest arrival — even if that means a last-minute booking adjustment. This is uncomfortable but necessary: the legal and reputational cost of a safety incident far outweighs the revenue loss from one cancelled booking.
LetPilot lets you run property inspections from your phone, log findings instantly, and convert them into tracked maintenance tasks with a single tap — keeping your properties safe, compliant, and guest-ready. Try LetPilot free at letpilot.co — no credit card required.