The short answer, in plain words
Yes. Open LetCompliance in your phone’s browser, go to the property and log a visit. You work through a checklist of 17 standard items in four groups (safety; damp, mould and ventilation; condition and fabric; tenancy and occupancy), mark each one Pass, Issue or N/A with a note, and take photos as you go. When you finish, the visit becomes a dated report PDF that you can keep or send to the tenant.
Before the visit, the same screen sends the tenants written notice of it.
When an inspection earns its keep
A slow leak under a kitchen sink rarely gets reported. The tenant puts a bowl under it and forgets. Two years later, at check-out, the base unit and the floor beneath it have rotted, and the argument is about whether the tenant should have told you. A visit at month six would have found it while it was a washer, and the dated photo would show when it was first seen.
Inspections also catch what a tenant cannot report because they do not know it matters: a smoke alarm with its battery removed, an extractor fan that has stopped, a fire door wedged open in an HMO, or more people living in the property than the tenancy allows.
How to do a mid-tenancy inspection, step by step
- Give written notice at least 24 hours before the visit and pick a reasonable time of day. On a joint tenancy, tell every tenant, not just the one you usually speak to
- Read the last report and the open repairs before you go, so you know what to look at again
- Walk the property in the same order every time: outside first, then room by room. Take a wide photo of each room and close-ups of anything that needs attention
- Press-test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, run the extractor fans and look for damp around windows, behind furniture on outside walls and in the bathroom
- Ask the tenant whether anything is not working. Tenants often mention a problem face to face that they would not have reported
- Write it up the same day, raise a repair for anything found, and send the tenant a short summary of what happens next
- Set the date of the next visit before you leave
Your options, compared honestly
Pen, paper and the phone camera. Free, and fine for one property. The photos end up in your gallery, apart from the notes, and a photo forwarded through a messaging app often loses the date it was taken, which is the part that matters later.
A Word or spreadsheet template. Better structure, but you still type it up afterwards and paste photos in by hand, which is the step that gets skipped when you are busy.
A letting agent. Inspections are often part of full management, paid for in the monthly percentage, or charged per visit on lesser services. Ask how often they visit and whether you see the photos.
An inspection app built for agents and clerks. These are designed for people producing many reports a week and are often priced that way. Check the price per report or per user against the number of visits you actually make.
Paying someone to go. LetCompliance can send someone to do the visit for £80, with a photographed, dated report sent to you. This is a local service, covering Crewe, Cheshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Warrington, Manchester, Liverpool, Wrexham, Derby, Nottingham and Birmingham.
How it works in LetCompliance
The checklist. Every item starts as not checked, and only the items you answer are saved to the visit and its report, so nothing reads as a Pass, or as N/A, unless you marked it. Add your own questions, such as “Garden kept as agreed” or “Condensation on bedroom window”, and they are there for the next visit. Give the property an overall grade of excellent, good, fair or poor.
Photos. Use Take photo to shoot with the camera or Choose photos to pick several at once from the gallery. They are shrunk on your phone before upload, so a visit over mobile data does not stall.
Notice. Use Book a visit in the property’s inspections, with a date and a time, then Give notice. Every current tenant is ticked, a time that has already passed is refused, and you are warned when the visit is under 24 hours away. The activity log keeps who was told, when, and how many hours’ notice they had.
The day planner. For several properties, open the inspection day planner, pick a date, tick the properties due, set a time for each and book them all at once. Each household is sent written notice. The planner warns you, but never blocks you, when a visit is under 24 hours away or outside 08:00 to 20:00.
The tenant’s side. In their portal the tenant sees the booked visit, the date of the next inspection and a history of past visits with the overall condition recorded.
What it costs. Inspections, the checklist, notices and the report PDF come with every plan, including the free plan for one property. Paid plans start with Single at £7.99 a month for one property, Solo at £14.99 for up to 3 and Portfolio at £19 for up to 10.
What the law says
Section 11(6) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (legislation.gov.uk, read 20 October 2026) lets the landlord, or someone the landlord authorises in writing, enter at reasonable times of the day to view the condition and state of repair, on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier. The Act does not say which hours are reasonable. The 08:00 to 20:00 window in LetCompliance is the app’s own guide, not a rule in the Act.
The section gives a right to view, with notice. It is not a right to let yourself in whenever you like. If a tenant asks to move the visit, offering another time and keeping a record of the offer is usually better than insisting.
Common mistakes
- Turning up with a day’s notice given by phone, rather than in writing
- Telling one joint tenant and assuming they passed it on
- Photographing the tenant’s belongings, letters or children. Photograph the property and its fixtures, and keep the tenant’s private life out of the frame
- Finding a problem and not raising it as a repair, which leaves a dated record that you knew and did nothing
- Using the visit to lecture about tidiness. Note what affects the property and leave the rest
How often should a landlord inspect a rental property?
Section 11 sets no frequency. Pick a rhythm that suits the home: sooner in a new tenancy or an older building, and again around any known damp or leak. Visiting too often can feel intrusive to a tenant who is looking after the place.
Can a tenant refuse an inspection?
The Act gives you the right to view on proper notice, but going in without the tenant’s agreement risks a harassment complaint. Rearrange, put the new time in writing and keep the record. If access is refused again and again, take advice on your own case.
Is a mid-tenancy inspection the same as an inventory?
No. An inventory records every item at check-in and check-out so the two can be compared for the deposit. An inspection is a condition check during the tenancy, looking for repairs, safety and breaches. LetCompliance keeps them separate: inspections are on every plan, inventories on Portfolio and above.
Can the tenant see the inspection report?
The tenant’s portal shows each visit’s date, type and the overall condition you recorded. Send them the report PDF if you want them to see the full findings and photos.
What LetCompliance does not do here
- Someone still has to go to the property. There is no remote or video inspection
- The £80 visit covers only the local area listed above, not the whole country
- The notice warnings are the app’s guide to the Act, not legal advice on a disputed visit
- The report holds what you recorded. A missed room is missing from the report too
