Property Inventory Services in Royal Leamington Spa

Leamington isn't one rental market. It's two

Cross the River Leam and the lettings change.

South of the river is the Old Town. Victorian terraces, Clemens Street and Brunswick Street. This is where Warwick students move after their first year.

North of the river is the Regency town. The Parade, Jephson Gardens and the Royal Pump Rooms. Tall stucco townhouses, many of them split into flats.

A student HMO on Brunswick Street and a Regency flat off The Parade are different jobs. We treat them that way. The HMO needs evidence that holds when four sharers deny the same burn mark. The Regency flat needs a clerk who can describe a ceiling rose and a sash window properly.

There's more money riding on it here, too. ONS figures put average private rent in Warwick district at £1,241 a month in August 2026. The West Midlands average was £982. Bigger rents mean bigger deposits. And bigger deposits get fought over.

South Leamington student HMOs: be ready before the summer rush

South Leamington and the Old Town are among the most popular areas for second year Warwick students. That means sharers, joint tenancies and a lot of keys changing hands at once.

Ground 4A and the summer window

Section 21 went on 1 May 2026. These tenancies now roll on as assured periodic tenancies. If it's an HMO let to full-time students, Ground 4A gets the house back for next year.

The possession date must fall between 1 June and 30 September. So check-outs and check-ins all pile into the same few weeks.

Here's where most landlords get caught out. Written notice must reach the tenants before the tenancy is signed. And the tenancy can't be signed more than six months before they're entitled to move in.

HMO licensing across Warwick District

Licensing reaches smaller houses here than many landlords expect. Warwick District Council's additional licensing covers the whole district until 17 January 2029.

Three or more people from two or more households? You need a licence. Not just the big five bed shares.

An Article 4 direction has also covered all of Leamington since 1 April 2012. So a new HMO needs planning permission first.

Room by room inventories for shared houses

So we write HMO inventories room by room. Each bedroom gets its own schedule of condition. Then the shared kitchen, bathroom, hallway and garden. When a deduction is challenged, the adjudicator sees what changed and where.

My advice? Book your summer slots in spring, not July.

Regency flats off The Parade: get the period details on record

North Leamington lets differently. The conservation area holds more than 400 listed buildings. Many are now flats.

Tenants here are often professionals. Some work in the "Silicon Spa" games cluster around Leamington. That's home to names like Codemasters, Playground Games and Ubisoft Leamington. Others commute by train to Birmingham and London Marylebone.

In my experience, period flat disputes are rarely about the carpet. They're about sash windows, cornicing, shutters and original floors. Record them properly or you're exposed at check-out.

A crack in plaster that's 200 years old is either history or damage. Only timestamped photos from day one can prove which.

Conversions also bring shared hallways and lower ground floor rooms. That's where damp usually shows first. A mid-term visit spots it before it turns into a dispute.