Keeping records of the house itself

Most households can say roughly when the boiler was installed and almost nothing else about the property they live in, which becomes a problem at exactly the wrong moments.

What is worth recording

The house file, alongside the general paperwork discussed elsewhere on this site.

Installations and their dates — boiler, consumer unit, windows, roof, rewiring, damp treatment, insulation.

With the installer, the cost and any warranty.

Certificates — electrical installation certificates, gas safety records, building regulations approvals, planning permissions, guarantees for damp or timber treatment, warranties for the roof or windows.

These are frequently required when selling, and reconstructing them afterwards is expensive or impossible.

Servicing history for the boiler and anything else serviced annually, since warranties commonly depend on it.

Paint colours and finishes, by room, with brand and code.

This is trivially small and saves an enormous amount of time whenever anything needs touching up.

Appliance models and serial numbers, with purchase dates and receipts.

The location of services — stopcock, consumer unit, gas shut-off, drains, meters, isolation valves.

Photographed and written down, which matters most when there is water coming through the ceiling and nobody can think.

What is behind the walls — photographs taken during any work, showing pipe and cable routes before they were covered.

These are worth more than they appear the next time anything is drilled.

Why it matters

Four practical reasons.

Selling. Conveyancing enquiries ask for exactly this material, and missing certificates cause delays, price reductions or indemnity insurance.

Insurance. Claims are assisted by evidence of maintenance and of what was there.

Some policies require evidence of servicing or of specified security.

Warranties. Many are void without proof of installation date and servicing.

Decisions. Knowing that the boiler is fifteen years old changes how you think about a repair quote.

The maintenance schedule

Which is worth writing alongside the records.

Annual: boiler service, alarm testing, gutter clearance, external inspection, chimney sweeping where applicable.

Periodic: electrical inspection at the recommended interval, redecoration of external timber, roof inspection, drainage checks.

Seasonal items are discussed elsewhere on this site.

Having them listed with dates means they happen, and means the deferred ones are visible rather than forgotten.

How to keep it

Practically.

A single folder, physical or digital, holding everything about the property.

Digital with a backup is more resilient, since paper is lost in exactly the events — fire, flood, move — where it matters most.

Photographing certificates and storing them somewhere accessible from a phone covers most emergencies.

A simple document listing dates, contractors and costs, updated whenever anything is done, is enough — elaborate systems are abandoned.

And handing it over when selling, which is genuinely valued by buyers and which occasionally makes a difference to a sale.

Contractors

Worth recording alongside.

Who did what, whether they were good, and how to contact them.

The plumber who came at short notice and did a decent job is worth more than a search result, and is regularly forgotten by the time the next problem arrives.

Keeping their details with the work they did means the next call is to someone who already knows the house.

For renters

An abbreviated version still applies.

Photographs at the start and end of the tenancy.

Copies of the tenancy, the inventory, the deposit protection details and the gas safety certificate.

A record of every reported repair, in writing, with dates.

And meter readings at the start and end.

All of which exist for the same reason: because the dispute, if there is one, will turn on evidence that is easy to keep and impossible to create afterwards.

What to do when you buy

The moment when the file is easiest to start.

The conveyancing pack contains most of what matters — planning permissions, building regulations certificates, guarantees, boundary information and the property information form the seller completed.

Keeping all of it rather than filing the completion statement alone saves considerable trouble later.

Add to it in the first month: photographs of the meters and their readings; photographs of the consumer unit and the location of the stopcock; the boiler model, serial number and service history if provided; and any appliance manuals left behind.

Then photograph each room before furniture arrives, which is both a record of condition and unexpectedly useful when planning work years later.