Portfolio work is a scheduling and evidence problem as much as a technical one. Statutory checks must happen before they expire, certificates must reach the right person in the right format, and tenants must be dealt with directly without the agent being the switchboard.
What the compliance calendar actually contains
| Obligation | Frequency | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord gas safety check | Every 12 months | Any let property with gas appliances or pipework |
| Electrical installation condition report | Every 5 years, or sooner if specified | Private rented property in England |
| Carbon monoxide alarms | Working alarm in any room used as living accommodation with a fixed combustion appliance; repair or replace when reported faulty | All rented property in England |
| Smoke alarms | One per storey, working at the start of each tenancy; repair or replace when reported faulty | All rented property in England |
| Legionella risk | Assess and control; review when circumstances change | Landlords, as duty holders |
| Energy performance certificate | Valid EPC at the point of letting | Most let property |
| Oil-fired appliance servicing | No statutory requirement, but annual is the practical standard | Off-grid property – a large share of rural Norfolk |
| Unvented cylinder service | Annual, per manufacturer | Any property with an unvented cylinder |
The gas check is the one with criminal liability attached – see landlord gas safety certificates. But the one most often missed on a rural Norfolk portfolio is oil servicing, precisely because there is no statute forcing the date, and an oil-fired let with no service history is a liability with an insurer whether or not a regulation names it.
How we work with portfolios
- One cycle, not thirty anniversaries. Properties brought onto a common renewal month where possible, so the calendar is manageable and visits can be geographically batched.
- Booked before expiry, not after a reminder. We hold the schedule and contact the tenant, rather than waiting for you to chase us.
- Direct tenant contact. With your agreement, we deal with tenants ourselves for access. The agent should not be a switchboard.
- Certificates in a usable format, sent to the person who files them, named consistently, on the day of the visit where possible.
- Documented access attempts. Where a tenant will not grant access, you get a written record of what we tried and when – which is exactly what you need to evidence reasonable steps.
- Geographic batching. Six properties in Norwich on one day is cheaper for everybody than six separate visits.
- One point of contact here, who knows your portfolio.
Where a tenant refuses or repeatedly fails to provide access, a landlord’s defence rests on having taken all reasonable steps. Dated records of attempted appointments, letters and messages are that evidence. We keep and supply them as a matter of course, because the moment you need them is the moment it is too late to create them.
Void periods and changes of tenancy
The gaps between tenancies are when the useful work can actually happen, and they are routinely wasted.
- Statutory checks brought forward into the void, so the new tenancy starts with a full cycle rather than a certificate expiring in three weeks.
- Repairs that need an empty property – anything requiring the water off, floors up, or a full day in a bathroom.
- Water system flushing after a void, which matters for legionella risk and is cheap to do while the property is empty.
- Heating system attention – a flush, a filter, inhibitor, and radiators balanced, none of which is convenient with a tenant in place.
- Stopcock, isolation and labelling. Making sure the incoming stopcock works and is labelled saves a flooded property later.
- Freeze protection if the void runs over winter – heating on frost setting or the system properly drained, and external runs emptied.
An empty property in January with the heating off is how the most expensive plumbing claims in this county happen.
What tenants actually report, and what it usually is
A useful thing for an agent to be able to triage on the phone:
- ‘No hot water but the heating works.’ A valve or a thermostat, not a boiler. Modest job.
- ‘The boiler pressure keeps dropping.’ Check the outside discharge pipe before calling it a leak – a failed expansion vessel explains most of these.
- ‘There is no heating and no hot water.’ Check the pressure gauge, the programmer batteries, and in cold weather the condensate pipe.
- ‘A radiator is cold.’ Usually a seized TRV or a system that has never been balanced. Rarely urgent.
- ‘Water is coming through the ceiling.’ Urgent. Stopcock off, electrics isolated to that area, everyone out of the room if the ceiling is bulging.
- ‘There is a smell of gas.’ Not a contractor call. National Gas Emergency Service, 0800 111 999, immediately.
- ‘The shower is weak.’ Descale the head first. Genuinely resolves a large share of these.
We are happy to take the call directly and triage it, which is usually faster for everyone than a message relayed twice.
Managing a portfolio? Getting the properties onto one renewal cycle is the single change that makes the calendar manageable.
Questions we get asked about this
Can you deal with tenants directly?
Yes, with your agreement, and it is usually much faster. We contact the tenant for access, confirm the appointment, and report back to you. The agent should not have to relay every message.
How do we get the certificates?
Sent to whoever files them, in a consistent format and naming convention, on the day of the visit where possible. Tell us how you want them and we will match it rather than making you adapt to us.
What if a tenant will not let you in?
We keep a dated record of every attempt – appointments offered, messages sent, visits attempted – and supply it to you. That record is what evidences reasonable steps if it is ever needed.
Can you take on a whole portfolio at once?
Yes, and the first step is mapping what is where, what is due when, and what the current certificate position is. That usually finds a few properties whose renewal dates have quietly drifted.
Do you cover the whole of Norfolk?
Norfolk in full, and further across East Anglia for larger portfolios. If part of your portfolio is outside what we can sensibly cover, we will say so rather than committing and then disappointing.
What about oil-fired properties?
A significant share of rural Norfolk lets are oil-fired and there is no statutory service requirement, which is precisely why they get missed. We would put them on the same annual cycle as the gas properties – the insurance position and the failure risk both justify it.
What happens when you call
Call and describe it
You speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Most jobs can be narrowed down on the phone.
We look at it properly
A real diagnosis before a price, and a straight answer if it is not worth doing.
A written quote
Itemised, so you can see what you are paying for.
The job, and the paperwork
Certificates where the work needs them, and what will need attention next.
Where we do this work
Across Norwich and the whole of Norfolk. If you are on the edge of the county, call and ask — we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
- Norwich
- Wymondham
- Dereham
- Attleborough
- Aylsham
- North Walsham
- Cromer
- Diss
- Loddon
- Long Stratton
- Watton
- King's Lynn
Need this doing?
Call and describe the problem — you will speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Written quotes, no estimates over the phone.