Guides / Visiting home

Opening a house that has been closed for months

Visiting home6 min readLast checked 22 October 2026

Before you go in

• Tell a neighbour or relative when you will arrive.
• Bring a torch, gloves, a mask, a bucket, a few bin bags, a basic tool kit, spare bulbs and your phone charger.
• Bring the house keys and ask who else holds a key.
• If you have not been there for a long time, do not bring small children on the first visit.

Step by step

1. Look at the outside first. Check the gate, the lock, the walls and the roofline. Fresh damage, a forced lock or signs that someone has been inside should be photographed before you touch anything.
2. Open the door and stand back. Let the air move for a few minutes. Open windows if you can do it from the doorway.
3. Check for gas. If you smell gas, do not switch lights on or off, do not use a lighter or match, and do not use a phone near the smell. Open doors and windows, leave, and call the gas company or a gas fitter from outside. If the house has a cylinder, close its valve and check the hose for cracks before reuse. Old rubber hoses perish.
4. Check the electrics before switching on. Look for chewed wires, burn marks, wet sockets or a damp meter board. With dry hands, switch the main off before you restore anything, then switch circuits back one at a time. If a breaker keeps tripping or you smell burning, leave it off and call an electrician. Do not run a fridge or heater through a damaged socket.
5. Walk through every room. Look at ceilings, corners and under windows. Take photos as you go.
6. Water. Open the taps slowly and let them run until the water is clear. Check pipes, joints and under sinks for drips. If there is a roof tank, check the lid, look inside for dirt, insects or dead animals, and clean it before you drink or cook with the water. Boil or filter drinking water on the first days.
7. Damp. Press on dark patches and look for peeling paint or a musty smell. Note which wall and how big. Damp that is spreading needs a proper repair, not only paint.
8. Pests. Look for droppings, gnawed boxes, nests in cupboards, wasps or bird nests, termite mud lines on wood, and cobwebs in dark spaces. Wear gloves. Shake out bedding and shoes before use. Do not put your hand into dark holes.
9. Meters and bills. Photograph the electricity, gas and water meters and write down the readings. Find the latest bills and note any unpaid amount. Ask the neighbour or a relative whether the bills were paid while you were away.
10. Locks and windows. Test every lock, key, latch and window catch. Oil stiff ones. Replace anything weak. If you are unsure who holds old keys, consider changing the main lock.
11. Roof and boundary. If it is safe to get up there, look for cracks, blocked drains, pooling water, loose tiles or a cracked parapet. Walk the boundary wall and gate and look for new cracks, gaps or a neighbour’s building over the line.
12. Make a list. Split it into urgent (safety, leaks, locks), soon (damp, wiring) and later (paint, tidy-up).

What to photograph

Take date-stamped photos before you clean, so the starting state is on record.

• Every room, from the door, and then close-ups of any damage
• Ceilings and corners
• The meters, with their readings readable
• The roof, the tank and the drains
• The gate, locks and boundary
• Any bills on the table or at the door
• Any item that looks missing, moved or broken

Back the photos up the same day to a cloud folder or send them to yourself.

Common mistakes

• Switching everything on at once after months.
• Lighting a match or the stove when there is a smell of gas.
• Drinking from the tank water without cleaning the tank.
• Painting over damp instead of finding where it comes from.
• Cleaning up before photographing, so any damage or break-in leaves no record.
• Leaving no one with a key and no one to check the house again.
• Forgetting about unpaid bills until a connection is cut.
• Trusting that "it looked fine from the gate".

Keeping it from happening again

Plan a regular visit, even once a month. A short check keeps small leaks, pests and bills from becoming big ones. A neighbour who sees the house daily is helpful, but ask for photos with the date, so you have a record that does not depend on memory.

Urdu glossary

Last checked: 22 October 2026. Rules change; confirm with the office or a lawyer before acting.