How to Create a Tenant Welcome Pack for Day-One Handover

Keys go out and the tenant still does not know who to call, how to report a repair, or which bin goes out on Tuesday. Knowing how to create a tenant welcome pack UK starts with a contacts sheet, one written repair channel, shut-offs and bin day, manuals plus a few house rules, then a digital copy within 24 hours and a signed index. Do not dump last year’s gas cert as the pack.

Saturday, keys on the hallway table. The folder is last year’s gas cert and a withdrawn How to Rent printout. Sunday 21:10: “the heating won’t come on” plus “when is recycling?”. Monday they say they never knew repairs go to one email. A one-page contacts sheet, shut-off map, bin day, boiler reset note, and a signed index emailed the same night would have been the file.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

What belongs on day one versus what can wait?

Must-have on day one is the ops pack: contacts plus one repair channel, 0800 111 999, stopcock, fuse box and boiler, bin day, manuals, and four or five ticket-cutting rules. Point to the separate inventory and the separate statutory file. Café lists, welcome biscuits, and a reprinted How to Rent wait.

Official How to Rent was withdrawn on 1 May 2026. Checklists that still say “include the latest How to Rent” are stale. Gas safety, EICR, EPC, deposit prescribed information, the written statement, and the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet are a different file — exact PDF, not a link. Do not dump them as page one.

The check-in inventory is a separate start file. Same wallet is fine. Do not rewrite room order or grades here. About two thirds of landlords give a pack in one cited poll — a large minority still hand keys with nothing practical. Do print the ops sheet.

Who do they call, and where does a repair go?

Page one is who to call and where a repair goes. Name the landlord or agent, phone, email, and the England or Wales postal address for notices. Write one repair channel — an email or a form, not WhatsApp as the system. Put 0800 111 999 above your mobile for gas or carbon monoxide.

A welcome-card mobile does not replace the postal address. LTA 1987 s.48 needs an England or Wales address for notices. Until that is done, rent can be treated as not due. Phone and email are not required on the written statement; MHCLG says you may add them so they can report repairs.

Official advice is to report repairs in writing and keep a copy. Name the one channel so that is not a guess. The ticket SOP lives in the repair-request process — do not rebuild it here. Write emergency versus “email in the morning”: gas or CO is 0800 first; a dead bulb waits for the named inbox. In practice, say who handles repairs if it is not you.

Where are the stopcock, fuse box, and boiler — and which bin goes out?

Write where the boiler, water stopcock — the indoor tap that shuts the water off — and fuse box are, one line each, walked on the day. Add bin and recycling day and which bin. Official pre-move checks ask where gas or water can be switched off and when refuse is collected. Meter location sits here; readings stay on the inventory file.

GOV.UK How to rent a safe home is the ops spec: alarms, shut-offs, bin day. For example, “under the kitchen sink, red tap” plus one photo beats adjectives. Point the gas meter control if there is gas — HSE tells them to shut that control after they call 0800 111 999. Wi-Fi only if you supply it. Meter readings stay on the inventory file. Keys are listed separately — not a fob schedule on this page.

On the first day of a new tenancy, test prescribed smoke and CO alarms and note it on the index. England needs a smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation, plus CO where a fixed combustion appliance sits. Do walk the shut-offs.

Which manuals and house rules actually cut tickets?

Attach a manual or a dated PDF for each supplied appliance, or the model number plus a working link. Add four or five house rules that stop tickets: boiler pressure reset, ventilation and drying clothes, which bin on which day, who reports a leak, and no hallway e-bike charging if that is the house rule. Do not write a tourist guide.

Manuals cut “how does this oven work” calls in week one. For example, a short clip of the boiler controls helps more than a café list. Typical mistake: five pages of “enjoy the area” and no boiler-pressure line. Write the one reset you actually want — pressure to X, then stop. Parks and biscuits can sit in one optional sentence. They are not an H2.

How do you prove the pack left the table?

List every item that left the table. Ask them to sign and date. Keep the original; they get a copy. If they refuse, write a witness note and send a same-day email listing the items. Attach the PDFs within 24 hours — not a folder link that can rot — and ask for a one-line reply.

The risk six months later is “you never gave us that”. Ops practice: receipt every item, they sign, you keep the original. WhatsApp is a weak formal file. Do not invent an e-sign product as the proof. The index lists the contacts sheet, shut-off map, manuals, bin day, plus pointers to the inventory, statutory file, and keys. Walk the controls if you can — then stop.

Workflow: Contacts sheet → Shut-off map + bin day → Manuals + rules → Walk + alarm test → Signed index → Digital copy within 24 hours.

Success bar: name must-have versus can-wait, write contacts and the one repair line, locate shut-offs and bin day, attach manuals plus four or five rules, email the pack within 24 hours, and get a signed or sent-and-receipted index. Verify the index points at the inventory and the statutory file. That checklist is the confidence test — then stop.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different written-statement rules. Stay on this England process. A workspace that keeps the property, the lease, the pack PDF, and requests on one record can replace a paper-only hallway folder. IziRento is operations software for that record, not a live tenant portal.