How to Keep a Vacant Property Inspection Log So Each Void Visit Is Dated

Keys are back. The house is empty. The file is a calendar reminder, an agent “property visited” email, or a Camera Roll dump with no visit times. Copy this policy’s inspection interval from the schedule — do not guess weekly. Open the vacant-property inspection log the day keys land: vacancy start, policy ref, named inspector. Each visit needs in and out times, inside and outside access, defects, dated photos, one action per defect, and the next-due date.

Sunday, one let in Lincoln. Keys came back Friday. Vera has a void week and no dated visit photos. The problem is the agent’s Friday email: “property visited”, no visit times. Typical mistake and risk: treating that email as the log. She opens the log today: copy the interval, walk inside and outside, write times, photograph the locked back door, and write next-due before she leaves.

There is no UK weekly-inspection statute. Direct Line for Business’s landlord booklet from 1 June 2026 wants internal and external inspection at least every 7 days. Homeprotect Unoccupied, upgraded 1 July 2026, wants you or someone you authorise to enter at least every 14 days, recorded at the time or within 24 hours. Alan Boswell’s unoccupied-house product asks for a visit once every 30 days. Copy the interval from this schedule.

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

How do you copy this policy’s inspection interval?

Copy the inspection interval from this policy’s schedule, endorsement — extra wording attached to the schedule — or written insurer instruction. Do not guess weekly because a void-checklist blog said so. There is no single 7, 14 or 30-day landlord law. Write the days, what counts, who may do it, and any winter or drain condition onto the setup sheet.

Do copy the figure from the PDF you were sent. Intelligent Insurance, 17 February 2026, says the interval often sits on an endorsement, not the occupied core wording. Landlord Resource, 11 August 2026, shows AXA asking for a written weekly record, and CIA panel wording every 14 days. If the wording is unclear, ask in writing. Unoccupied-day thresholds on the Financial Ombudsman Service page, last updated 16 October 2023, are usually 30 or 60 days — why the log exists, not a cadence you invent.

When to open the vacant-property inspection log?

Open the log the day keys return, not after the first remembered weekly slot. Write the address, vacancy start, last-slept date if different, reason, insurer, policy number, copied interval, winter or drain condition, named inspector and backup. Book the first visit before the first deadline. The check-out report is the starting condition, not a later visit.

Do start on keys-back afternoon. CertNudge, last reviewed 20 August 2026, says start when the property becomes empty: vacancy date, why, the interval, and any security or heating conditions. Its vacant-inspection pack has no default 7, 14 or 30-day interval — you enter the number from current documents. Typical mistake: a calendar reminder with no named inspector.

What to write on each vacant visit?

Write what actually happened, not “property visited” or “all OK”. Record in and out times, who went, whether they got inside, and whether they walked the outside — and outbuildings if asked — on the same visit. Add security, water and heating against the copied condition, defects, dated photo filenames, and the next-due date.

Do go inside. Livdin, 4 July 2026, treats a dated log plus timestamped photos as the usual proof. Homeprotect wants rooms, loft if safe, and outside including outbuildings on the same visit — exterior-only footage does not replace entering. Label originals such as V03_kitchen_sink.jpg and keep metadata. HSE says water should not stagnate in long vacancies; if flushing would fight this drain-down, ask the insurer in writing. In practice: write next-due before you lock the door.

Does a viewing or decorator count as the inspection?

Not automatically. Record that a viewer or decorator attended if they did. Tick the insurer walk only if the internal and external checks this wording wants were done and written down. A busy void is not a compliant visit. Drive-by and exterior-only CCTV are not entry.

Do keep casual activity on a separate line. CertNudge: a painter on Tuesday, for example, and a viewing on Thursday can leave the house “busy” with nobody assigned to the insurer walk. Do not backdate a missed week. If you cannot get inside, write the gap, tell the insurer or broker, and inspect as soon as you reasonably can. FOS DRN-5010249 had a weekly clause; the last evidenced visit was 17 days before an escape-of-water find, and the complaint was not upheld.

How do you raise an action when a visit finds a defect?

Raise a separate action for every defect, not a buried note under “kitchen — damp?”. Give it an ID, who you instructed, when they attend, the outcome, and a follow-up visit. Write the next-due inspection date before you leave, calculated from the interval you copied. The leak needs a trail; the next walk needs a date.

Do split the visit note from the repair. CertNudge’s pack tracks contractor attendance separately from the inspection row. NFU Mutual, via Landlord Resource, wants defects put right; Nelson wording expects them remedied immediately. Typical mistake: “small leak, plumber needed” with no ID and no close-out.

When to close the vacant inspection log?

Close the log when someone sleeps there again. Do a final visit, write the first-occupied or tenancy-start date, close open defects or hand them to the occupied file, and stop the recurring void reminders. Keep the closed log for as long as this policy asks — FOS DRN-4979244 wanted 24 months’ retention on that wording, an example not a statute.

Do send the occupied-again occupancy notice as a separate email — that file is the occupancy-notify guide. Occupied walks from the first slept night are on the periodic inspection checklist. Empty-week meters stay on void-period utilities. Success bar: Sunday opens one log — interval copied, timed inside-and-outside visits, one action per defect, next-due written, closed when someone sleeps there. Verify that checklist, then stop. An IziRento workspace can hold this log and photo references.