Seasonal Property Maintenance Tips for Welsh Landlords

The seasonal maintenance checklist

Wales is wet and windy for much of the year, so most of the work is about keeping water out and heat in. Use this as your yearly plan. The legal checks above fall due on their own dates, so put those in the diary separately and don't wait for a season.

Your repairing duties in Wales

The repair rules in Wales come from the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, not the English rules you may read about elsewhere. They apply to periodic standard contracts and to fixed term standard contracts of less than seven years, which covers the usual private let.

Fitness for human habitation

The home must be fit for human habitation when the contract starts and for the whole contract. For a flat, that includes the structure and exterior of the building and the common parts (s.91). Fitness is judged against 29 matters and circumstances listed in the Fitness for Human Habitation Regulations. Damp and mould come first on that list. Others include cold, falls on stairs and steps, electrical hazards, fire, and the collapse of part of the home (Schedule to SI 2022/6, accessed 15/10/2026). Our fitness for human habitation guide goes through all 29.

Repair of the structure and the service installations

You must keep the structure and exterior in repair, including drains, gutters and external pipes. You must also keep the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and hot water in repair and proper working order (s.92). The standard is what is reasonable for the age and character of the home and how long it is likely to be lived in. A 1900s terrace isn't held to the standard of a new build, but it still has to be in repair.

When the duty starts, and how fast you must act

Your duty to repair during the contract starts when you, or any one of joint landlords, become aware that work is needed. You comply if you do the work within a reasonable time after that day (s.97). The law gives no fixed number of days. A gas leak or no heating in January needs action the same day. A dripping tap does not. Because the clock starts when you find out, log the date and time of every report.

Damage the contract holder causes

You aren't obliged to repair disrepair that is wholly or mainly caused by the contract holder's, or a permitted occupier's, lack of care for the home (s.96). In practice, make anything unsafe safe first and keep the evidence: dated photos, the contractor's report on the cause and the messages.

Getting in to inspect or repair

You can enter at any reasonable time to inspect the condition of the home or to do work needed for fitness or repair. You must give the contract holder at least 24 hours' notice first (s.98). The law sets no inspection frequency. A visit every few months, with a dated photo report, catches problems while they are still cheap to fix.

The safety checks with fixed dates

Gas safety: every 12 months

Every gas appliance and flue you provide must be checked for safety at intervals of no more than 12 months, by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Give a copy of the record to the contract holder within 28 days of the check, and to a new contract holder before they move in. Keep each record until two further checks have been done (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg 36; HSE guidance, accessed 15/10/2026). Book it a few weeks before the due date. A check done up to two months before the due date is treated as done on the due date, so you keep the same anniversary (reg 36A). See our gas safety certificate guide for Wales for what the engineer checks and what happens if an appliance fails.

Electrical safety: at least every 5 years

You must hold a valid electrical condition report (EICR) for the home throughout the contract. A report is valid for five years from the inspection, or until the earlier date the report itself sets for the next inspection. Give the contract holder a copy within 14 days of the occupation date, and a copy of any later report within 14 days of that inspection. If there is no valid report, or the copy wasn't given in time, the home is treated as unfit for human habitation until you put it right (reg 6, SI 2022/6; Welsh Government guidance for landlords, accessed 15/10/2026). Read the date on the report, not just the year it was done.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Every storey needs a smoke alarm that is in working order, connected to the mains electricity, and linked to every other mains smoke alarm in the home. Every room with a gas, oil or solid fuel appliance needs a working carbon monoxide alarm. A fixed gas cooker you provide counts. If either is missing or not working, the home is treated as unfit for human habitation until it is fixed (reg 5, SI 2022/6; Welsh Government guidance for landlords, accessed 15/10/2026). Test every alarm on the day the contract starts and note it on the inventory. Show the contract holder how to test them and ask them to report a fault straight away.

Damp and mould: the most common winter complaint

Damp and mould are the first of the 29 fitness matters, and in a wet climate they are the reports you'll get most from November to March. Find the cause before you treat the mark on the wall. There are three usual causes:

• Penetrating damp: water coming in from outside through a blocked gutter, a cracked downpipe, failed pointing or a slipped slate. This is the repair duty, and the autumn checklist is how you prevent it.
• Rising damp: damp coming up from the ground, usually on ground-floor walls in older homes. Get a damp specialist or a surveyor to diagnose it before paying for treatment.
• Condensation: moisture from cooking, showers and drying clothes settling on cold walls. Working extractor fans, trickle vents and enough heating make the difference. Give the contract holder simple written advice on airing the home.

Whatever the cause, write down what you found, what you did and when. If you think the contract holder's lack of care caused it, the evidence matters more than the opinion.

How to handle a repair report

Repair disputes often start with a report that went missing or a reply that came late. A simple process avoids both.

1. Give one clear way to report. Put the email address, phone number and an out-of-hours number in the welcome pack and on the inside of a kitchen cupboard.
2. Log it the moment it arrives. Date, time, what was reported and any photos.
3. Sort it by urgency. A smell of gas, no heating or hot water in cold weather, water coming through a ceiling, unsafe electrics or a front door that won't lock are emergencies. A broken extractor fan is urgent. A sticking kitchen drawer is routine.
4. Tell the contract holder what happens next and when, even if the answer is "a plumber is booked for Thursday".
5. Arrange access and do the work. For an inspection or planned repair, give at least 24 hours' notice to go in. Then fix it within a reasonable time.
6. Close it off in writing. Confirm the job is done and file the invoice and photos with the property's records.

Keep a maintenance file for each property

One folder per property, paper or digital, saves hours when a certificate falls due or a dispute comes up. Keep the current gas safety record, the EICR and any written confirmation of electrical work, the alarm test notes from each check-in, the inventory, inspection reports with dated photos, and every repair invoice. Put the gas and EICR due dates in a calendar with a reminder six weeks ahead. Our landlord compliance guide for Wales lists the other documents a Welsh let needs.

When a letting agent takes this off your hands

Seasonal maintenance is easy to plan and hard to keep up when you have a job, a family or more than one property. The missed gutter clean or the gas check that slips by a fortnight is where landlords get caught out.

With Morgan Jones full management, contract holders report problems to us, not you. We sort each job by urgency, get quotes from contractors we know, and only ask you to approve work above an agreed limit. Emergencies are handled straight away. We track the gas safety record, the EICR and the alarms for every property, and arrange the checks before they are due. Inspections come with photo reports you can see in the landlord portal. If you have tradespeople you trust, we're happy to use them.

To talk it through, call us on 01792 651311 or send us your details.