Getting a rental ready between tenants usually means a day or two of small jobs rather than a big refurbishment — filling and repainting, resealing the bath, easing doors that stick, replacing broken blinds, clearing a slow waste. Most of it is a half day or a full day of labour plus materials, and it has to happen in the void period, because once the new tenant is in, it gets a lot harder.
What actually needs doing between tenancies
Most turnarounds are not one big job. They are fifteen small ones, and the list is remarkably consistent from property to property.
- Filling and touching up. Picture holes, Rawlplug craters, scuffed skirting, the dark patch behind where the sofa was.
- Repainting. Sometimes a full room, more often a wall or a hallway that has taken the worst of it.
- Silicone and sealant. Mouldy or lifting seal around baths, showers, sinks and worktops. Cheap to redo, expensive to ignore.
- Doors that stick, slam or won’t latch. Hinges dropped, latches out of line, handles worn loose.
- Blinds, curtain poles and shelving. Usually pulled off the wall, or missing entirely.
- Kitchen units. Doors out of alignment, soft-close hinges failed, a drawer runner gone.
- Slow or blocked wastes and dripping taps. Traps, washers, cartridges, flexible connectors.
- Toilets that run. A failed flush valve costs a few pounds and quietly adds to the water bill.
- Flat-pack. Replacing a bed, wardrobe or chest of drawers in a furnished let.
- Smoke alarms. Batteries, missing units, and testing everything works before the new tenant arrives.
None of it is difficult. All of it takes time, and it all needs doing before viewings — a flat that shows well lets faster and lets higher.
Why the void period is the only window you get
An empty property is the only time you can paint a whole room, lift a carpet or take a bath panel off without arranging access, working around someone’s furniture, or asking a tenant to be home. It is also the only time the work costs you nothing in goodwill.
The trade-off is that every day of that window is a day without rent. To put a number on it: a property let at an illustrative £1,200 a month is standing at roughly £40 a day empty. A two-day turnaround costs you about £80 in lost rent on top of the labour — and to be straight about it, the labour is much the larger number of the two. Lost rent is not where the saving is.
The saving is in the calendar. The same list of jobs costs roughly the same in labour whether it is done across two consecutive days or dragged out over three weeks while four different trades each fit you in. What changes is when the property goes back on the market. Three weeks of void at that illustrative rent is around £840 of rent you never collect, against about £80 for a two-day turnaround — and three weeks later, you are still three weeks behind on finding a tenant.
So the argument for batching is not that the work is cheap. It is that compressing it into as few consecutive days as possible gets the property viewable, let and earning again sooner.
One person for a day, or four trades with four call-outs?
Split a typical void list across specialists and you pay a first-hour minimum four times over before anyone has picked up a tool — four lots of the most expensive hour anybody charges, spread across four separate visits you have to be available for.
| Approach | Visits to arrange | How the time is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Full day, one person | 1 | A single day rate, up to eight hours on site |
| Half day, one person | 1 | A single half-day rate, up to four hours on site |
| Four separate trades, one hour each | 4 | Four separate first-hour minimums before any real work starts |
The exception matters and I will be straight about it: if the job genuinely needs a specialist, a specialist is cheaper than a handyman having a go. The point is that most void lists are not specialist work. They are fifteen small jobs, and fifteen small jobs is exactly what a full day is for. You can see the full breakdown on my handyman pricing page.
What you can and can’t charge to the deposit
This is where turnarounds cost landlords money they did not expect, and it is worth understanding before you book anyone.
You cannot charge a tenant for fair wear and tear — the gradual deterioration that comes from normal, reasonable use. Propertymark sets out the factors an adjudicator weighs: the age and original condition of the item, its expected lifespan, how many people were living there, and how long the tenancy ran. A carpet worn thin after five years of a family living on it is wear. A cigarette burn in that same carpet is damage.
The second principle is betterment: you are not allowed to end up better off than you started. If you replace a damaged item, you cannot charge the tenant the full replacement cost of a brand-new one to sit in place of something that was already part-worn.
That is handled by apportionment. Propertymark’s worked example: a carpet costing £500 to replace, two years old, with an expected ten-year life. The tenant is responsible for the eight years of life their damage destroyed — £400. You carry the £100 that was already used up.
The practical consequence for a turnaround is this: repairing is often more recoverable than replacing. Refixing a sagging kitchen door, patching and repainting a damaged wall, or resealing a bath is work you are far more likely to recover in full, because there is no depreciation to apportion. Ripping out and replacing puts you straight into the betterment argument.
It also means keeping your inventory and your check-in photographs in order, and getting itemised invoices rather than a single line reading “making good”.
What the law requires before a new tenant moves in
The void is also when the compliance paperwork gets sorted, because it all needs to be in place before the new tenancy starts. This is a summary, not a substitute for checking the regulations yourself or speaking to your letting agent.
| Requirement | How often | Who can do it |
|---|---|---|
| Gas safety record (CP12) | Every 12 months | Gas Safe registered engineer only |
| EICR (electrical installation condition report) | At least every 5 years | A qualified person |
| Smoke alarms | One per storey used as living accommodation | Landlord’s duty to ensure working at the start of the tenancy |
| Carbon monoxide alarms | Every room with a fuel-burning appliance | As above (gas cookers excluded) |
| EPC | Valid certificate before letting | Accredited assessor |
Two points that catch people out. Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, where an EICR identifies work as necessary you have 28 days to get it done — or less, if the report specifies a shorter period. The maximum financial penalty for breaching that duty is £30,000. If you are going to have an EICR done, having it done at the start of the void rather than the end gives you room to act on it.
On alarms, the NRLA notes that while the regulations do not mandate a particular type, a battery-powered standalone alarm can be flagged as a hazard by a local authority inspection. Testing at the start of the tenancy is the landlord’s duty, not the tenant’s.
How the Renters’ Rights Act changes the turnaround
The Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026. Two things about it change how void periods work in practice.
First, all private tenancies are now periodic — rolling, with no fixed end date. Section 21 no-fault evictions are gone. That means you have less certainty about when a void will happen, and a tenant giving notice may leave you a shorter window than a fixed-term expiry used to. Being able to get a list done in a day rather than a fortnight is worth more than it was.
Second, the direction of travel is towards higher condition standards. The government has set out plans to consult on applying a Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector, and has signalled an EPC C target by 2030. The government’s own explainer sets out the timetable, with a private rented sector database and a landlord ombudsman following from late 2026.
Nothing in that changes what a handyman does. It does mean that the small stuff — damp-looking sealant, a window that won’t close properly, a loose handrail — is more likely to be looked at, and cheaper to deal with between tenancies than after a complaint.
What I do, and what needs a registered trade
I am a one-person business. You deal with the same person who quotes the work, does it and stands behind it — there is no office, no scheduler and no subcontractor turning up instead. I carry public liability cover.
What I take on: filling, patching, sanding and painting and decorating; patch plastering; resealing baths, showers and worktops; door and window adjustments, hinges, latches and handles; kitchen unit and drawer repairs; shelving, blinds, curtain poles and mirrors; flat-pack assembly; TV mounting; taps, wastes, traps and running toilets; gutter clearing; and general odd jobs and small repairs.
What I don’t: anything involving gas or a boiler — that is Gas Safe registered engineers only, by law. Notifiable electrical work needs a Part P registered electrician, and EICR remedial work needs a qualified person. I do not issue safety certificates of any kind. If you are unsure which side of that line a job falls, my guide on whether you need a handyman, an electrician or a plumber sets it out.
Being told plainly what someone won’t do is usually a better signal than being told they do everything.
How a turnaround works in practice
- Send me the check-out report or a set of photos. Most landlords and agents already have one. It is the fastest way for me to price the work without a wasted visit.
- I come back with a price and a realistic length of time — usually a half day or a full day, occasionally two.
- Book the day. Key collection from you, an agent or a keysafe, whichever is easiest.
- The work gets done in one visit wherever the list allows it, with materials bought at cost and receipts passed on.
- You get photos and an itemised invoice — itemised because a single line saying “making good” is much harder to justify in a deposit dispute than a list.
If you have more than one property in and around Cambridge, tell me — a regular arrangement is easier for both of us than starting from scratch each time.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly can you turn a property around?
Most two-bed void lists are a half day to a full day of work. The constraint is usually my diary rather than the job — as a one-person business I book up, so the earlier you can tell me a tenancy is ending, the better the date you will get.
Do you work from a check-out report?
Yes, and it is the easiest way to do it. Send the report or a set of photos and I will price the list from that. If something turns out to be bigger than it looked in a photo, I will tell you before I start on it rather than after.
Can I recover the cost from the deposit?
It depends on whether the adjudicator treats each item as tenant damage or fair wear and tear, and on the age and condition of what was damaged. Repairs are generally more recoverable than replacements because there is no depreciation to apportion. I provide itemised invoices so you have a per-job breakdown rather than one lump sum, but the deposit scheme decides, not me.
Can you do the gas or electrical certificates at the same time?
No. A gas safety record can only be issued by a Gas Safe registered engineer and an EICR by a qualified person. I do not issue certificates. I can work around whoever you have booked to do them, and it is worth getting the EICR done early in the void — if it flags remedial work you have 28 days, or less if the report says so.
Do you work with letting agents?
Yes. Keys from the office or a keysafe, photos and an itemised invoice back. If the agent handles the check-out, I can price straight from their report.
Do you cover properties outside Cambridge?
I cover Cambridge and the surrounding villages, plus Haverhill, Newmarket, Royston, St Ives and Saffron Walden. For a full day’s work the travel is not an issue. For a single fifteen-minute job at the far edge of that, batching it with something else is better value for you.
What if the property needs more than one day?
I will tell you that when I price it rather than discovering it on the day. Two consecutive days is usually still the fastest way through a long list, and it keeps the void short.
Get your next turnaround priced
Send me the check-out report or a few photos and I will come back with a price and a day. Quotes are free, materials are charged at cost, and there is no VAT to add. If you would rather talk it through first, call and tell me what you are dealing with — you can also send the details through here or read a bit about how I work.
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