East Anglian Leak Detection
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East Anglian Leak Detection
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Rented, managed and empty homes

Leak detection for landlords and letting agents

A leak in a home you let or manage raises three questions: who opens the door, who pays and who gets the report. We settle those on the phone before booking.

Tenant or agent opens up

Empty homes tested between lets

Written report for your insurer

Payment arranged if you are away

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote

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Lines open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Landlords often hear about a leak second hand: a forwarded email from the water company, an agent's photo of a stain, a complaint from the flat downstairs. Before you ring, ask the occupier for a photo of the meter dial or the boiler gauge, because those numbers shape the visit.

Agents booking for an owner, and anyone booking where someone else pays, should say so at the start. Card details secure every booking. If whoever pays will not be there for the visit, we may want their payment ahead of the booking being confirmed, so allow time for that.

A spreading brown water stain on a kitchen ceiling around a spotlight, below a bathroom A leak detection report on a clipboard above a tiled floor where the leak position is marked with tape

What changes when the property is let or empty

Leak detection for landlords uses the same tests as any other job: trace the leak from the surface, prove it with a second, different test, then mark and photograph the spot. The difference is in the arranging. The key holder, the payer and the occupier may be three different people, which is why we ask so many questions when you ring.

A water leak in a rental property also raises the question of whose pipe it is. The part under the street, up to the meter or boundary, is the water company's to look after. The part from there into the house usually belongs with the property, which in a let normally means the owner. Older terraces and flats sometimes share one supply.

Typical jobs for landlords and agents

A forwarded email and a front garden leak

The property

A let 1960s semi in Peterborough, where a newer plastic supply runs from a pavement meter across the small front garden and rises under the sink.

The problem

The water company emailed the tenant about water passing all the time. She forwarded it to the landlord, who lives in another county.

How we found it

The tenant let us in. With her stop tap off, the meter kept ticking over, so the leak was outside. Listening peaked halfway along the path, and tracer gas agreed.

The outcome

As the landlord could not be there, he paid before we confirmed the date. His report followed, with a separate repair quote.

A loft tank feed leaking in an empty let

The property

A 1950s semi in Bury St Edmunds, empty between tenants. A pipe rises from the kitchen through a boxed landing corner to fill the loft's cold water tank.

The problem

The letting agent read the meter at check-out and again a week later. The numbers had moved, although nothing in the house was in use.

How we found it

Closing the stop tap froze the dial, so the water was escaping indoors. The loft tank's feed pipe failed a pressure test, and tracer gas leaked out inside the boxing.

The outcome

The agent held the keys and met us there. We repaired the leaking joint while on site, quoted separately, before the next tenants moved in.

A shop ceiling stained by the flat above

The property

A flat above a shop in Swaffham, managed by an agent for the owner, with its bathroom directly over the shop's storeroom on timber joists.

The problem

The shopkeeper reported a brown stain spreading across the storeroom ceiling. The flat's tenant had noticed nothing and said the bath emptied normally.

How we found it

Readings in the storeroom ceiling peaked under the bath. Upstairs, running the taps changed nothing, but emptying the bath lifted the readings, and thermal imaging followed the warm water to the waste.

The outcome

The report placed the leak in the flat's bathroom, and the agent passed it to the owner. Who pays is for the owner and the shop to settle.

Signs worth acting on in a let property

A forwarded letter about continuous use

The water company's letter usually goes to the account holder, often the tenant. Ask for a copy and a fresh meter reading before you ring.

A meter moving in an empty house

With nobody living there, nothing in the house should use water. A meter still moving between lets means water is escaping, and closing the stop tap shows whether it is inside or out.

Your tenant topping up the boiler

Once the boiler itself has been checked, a tenant refilling it every few days usually points to a leak in the heating pipes. Ask about leak sealer too.

A complaint from the flat or shop below

A stain in the ceiling underneath usually starts in the bathroom or kitchen above. We will need access to your flat to test the fittings there.

Booking a visit when you are not there

1

Who lives there and who pays

Tell us whether you own or manage the property, who lives there, who has keys and who pays. Mention any supply shared with next door.

2

Access agreed with the occupier

Agree a time with your tenant or key holder. We need the meter, the stop tap, the loft and any affected rooms, so ask them to clear a way to each.

3

Paid, then reported

If we did not take payment when confirming, it is due as the visit ends. The report, with the location, methods, readings and photographs, is sent once everything is paid.

What each test needs from the property

Pressure testing

With one length of pipe shut off, a gauge either holds or sinks, and sinking means that length leaks. Stop taps and valves must turn, so mention any your tenant struggles with.

Acoustic listening

A ground microphone listens for water hissing out of a buried pipe. It needs the supply on and the house silent, which an empty let provides.

Moisture meters

In a flat, readings taken across the ceiling below mark out where the damp has reached and where it peaks, so we know which fittings upstairs to test first.

Who books us for a property they do not live in

Landlords who live away from the let

News of the leak reaches you through someone else, and you may be hours away. Your tenant can open up for us, and you receive the report after paying.

Letting and managing agents

You hold the keys and deal with the tenant, but the owner may be paying. Business bookings may need paying in advance, and cancelling one takes at least one working day's warning.

Owners of empty or inherited homes

An empty house can leak for weeks unnoticed. With nothing else using water, a meter test gives a clear answer, and a neighbour or agent can let us in.

Landlord policies and the report

Landlord insurance is separate from your tenant's contents cover. Check what yours says about finding a hidden leak, and whether the insurer must agree the work first. The report lists the location, methods, readings and photographs, and is released once the bill is paid in full. Whether the claim is paid is your insurer's decision.

Rented homes across the region

Our landlord work covers city flats, terraces carved into bedsits, family lets on new estates and coastal cottages let to holidaymakers, throughout East Anglia and beyond. Pick a county below to see its towns.

Leak detection in Cambridgeshire Leak detection in Essex Leak detection in Suffolk Leak detection in Norfolk Leak detection in Hertfordshire Leak detection in Bedfordshire Leak detection in Buckinghamshire Leak detection in Greater London

Other leaks we trace

Water leak detection Leaking water main Central heating leak detection Leaking underfloor heating Shower leak detection Underground water leak detection Gas pipe leak detection Thermal imaging leak detection Acoustic water leak detection Tracer gas leak detection Commercial leak detection Trace and access leak detection Water leak repair

Useful guides

How to avoid frozen pipes, and check for a hidden leak after a freeze Leak on a shared water supply pipe: who pays and how it is found Water leak at business premises: first steps for owners and managers Water leak from an upstairs flat: what to do and who is liable

Common questions

Your tenant is welcome to open up for us and show us the meter, the stop tap and any rooms or loft we need. Give us their contact details when you book, and tell them which parts of the house we will need to reach.

Bank transfer or card, never cash or cheques. Card details secure the date. If you are elsewhere that day, we may ask you to pay ahead, before the date is confirmed. Either way, there is nothing to leave with your tenant or agent.

Sometimes. No find, no fee on home water leaks covers one leak on a water main up to 30 m or the hot and cold supply pipes, at least half a litre a minute, where we also carry out the access and repair. It does not cover central heating, shared mains, businesses or leaks that come and go. A second kitchen, or over three bathrooms and toilets, also rules a home out. Full conditions are on our terms page.

Tell us at booking who owns the property, who manages it and who is paying. The report follows full payment for the visit and is written so it can be forwarded to an owner, agent or insurer just as it stands.

Often more easily than an occupied one, because nothing else is drawing water. Leave the supply on, or tell us it is off, and check the stop tap turns. Someone must let us in, and the heating must be working if that could be where the leak is.

We do, but tell us when you book. On a shared supply, closing one household’s stop tap will not stop the meter while the others use water, so everyone on that pipe may need to hold off during the test. Shared mains fall outside no find, no fee on home water leaks.

Tenant sent you a leak letter?

Ring 07700 102 008 with the address, the name of whoever holds the keys and who is paying. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, every day.

Call 07700 102 008 Get a quote
East Anglian Leak Detection