The winter property checklist every UK landlord needs

Cold snaps drive our emergency callout line off the hook. Every year we take the same handful of calls — no hot water, frozen pipes, storm damage, a boiler that’s been ignored since October. Almost all of them could have been prevented with about 15 minutes of preparation.

Whether you look after a portfolio of rentals, a block of flats, or just your own home, this is the routine we run through every autumn to keep our clients out of trouble.

Heating & hot water

• Test the heating on a cold morning before you truly need it — not on the first day of December.
• Bleed every radiator, top up boiler pressure to the mark on the gauge, and note anything that gurgles or stays cold at the top.
• Book the annual service and CP12 (if it’s a rented property) — don’t wait for autumn demand to spike engineers’ diaries.
• Set the heating to “keep alive” at around 12–14°C during any empty periods, so pipes never fully freeze.
• Check the location and operation of the stop-cock. Label it. Tell your tenants where it is.

Roof, gutters and external walls

• Clear gutters and downpipes of leaves before the first heavy rain.
• Look up at the roof with binoculars from the garden — spot slipped tiles, damaged flashings, cracked chimney pointing before the first storm.
• Check external render for hairline cracks, especially below windows where water enters.
• Inspect fence panels and gates — storms will find any weakness.

Plumbing

• Lag any exposed external pipes with pipe insulation from any DIY shop — costs a few pounds, saves a burst pipe.
• Check the loft has insulation over the water tank (if you still have one) but NOT underneath it — you want warm rising air keeping it above freezing.
• Turn off outside taps at the internal isolation valve and drain them.
• Run any rarely-used showers or taps for a couple of minutes to keep water moving.

Electrical & smoke safety

• Test every smoke alarm and CO detector. Replace batteries you’re unsure about.
• Check outside lighting and sensors — dark evenings are back.
• For rented properties, if your EICR is due within six months, book it now — December compliance rushes are painful.
• For blocks, test emergency lighting and photograph the log book entry.

Practical extras for landlords

• Send tenants a friendly “winter tips” note — how to bleed radiators, when to call, keeping the heating ticking over during any absence.
• Confirm they have the emergency contact number and know how to use the stop-cock.
• Photograph the property inside and out for insurance records before winter storms.
• Refresh your emergency contact list: preferred plumber, electrician, gas engineer, insurance claim line.

The most common Christmas Eve callout we get is a frozen condensate pipe on an outside wall. A £5 length of pipe lagging fitted in October would have prevented every one of them.

Download the full checklist

This post is a short winter extract from our full free property maintenance checklist — which covers monthly, quarterly, seasonal and compliance jobs across the whole year. It’s a 4-page A4 PDF you can print and tick off, and it includes an emergency preparedness page you can pin up in the utility cupboard.