On this page 6 sections
Most rental property signs are tiny. The ones that save you phone calls are a label on the boiler saying when it was last checked, a date on the CO alarm, a tag on each fire door and a chart in the fuse box. Bigger stuff comes later: bin and parking signs for a block, and a Correx board in the front garden when the place is empty. Walk the property with us, from the airing cupboard out to the kerb.
Start in the cupboard: labels inside each flat or house #
Picture the tenant who smells gas at 11pm, or the plumber who turns up to a boiler he has never seen. A good label answers their first question without anyone ringing you. Ours are printed with your name and number, then leave blank lines for the bits that change every visit.
| Label | Stick it | Blank lines for | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landlord Gas Safety Check | Boiler casing or cupboard door | Date checked, next due, engineer, registration | 96 × 68 mm |
| Carbon Monoxide Alarm | On or next to each alarm | Fitted, replace by, fitted by | 64 mm round |
| Emergency Control Valve | By the gas meter tap | Where the valve is | 96 × 45 or 96 × 68 mm |
| Periodic Inspection (EICR) | Consumer unit | Last inspected, next recommended, by whom | 96 × 68 mm |
| Consumer Unit Circuit | Inside the consumer unit lid | Each breaker’s circuit and rating | 110 × 75 or 94 × 140 mm |
| Fire Door Inspection | Each fire door | Door ref, inspected, next due, inspector | 96 × 45 mm |
| Empty Property | Stopcock, boiler, meters | What’s isolated or drained, date, who to call | 110 × 75 mm |
If you furnish with electricals, PAT Test Pass and RCD Test labels round off the kit. The CO one earns its place on every single alarm, because a replace-by date is the thing nobody remembers until the alarm starts chirping.
Agents: put your name on it, not the engineer’s
Letting agents often print the agency name and office number, then let each engineer fill in their own details on the day. The tenant sees a due date, rings the agency, and the agency books the job. Simple, and it keeps the work with you.
Paper or waterproof?
Matt paper takes a biro and is fine in a dry boiler cupboard or hallway. Meter boxes, outside stores and damp cupboards need waterproof polypropylene with a matt laminate, written on with a permanent marker. If you only look after a few lets, paper packs of the 110 × 75 mm labels start at just 8. The trade-offs are laid out in paper or polypropylene labels.
A label is a reminder, not a record
Be clear with yourself about this one. A sticker tells the next person what happened. It does not stand in for the gas safety record, the electrical report or any document you are legally bound to keep and hand to tenants. The rules also differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For England, the government’s renting out a property guide is the place to start.
Rental property signs for shared hallways and HMOs #
Once more than one household shares a front door, rental property signs stop being about one boiler and start being about behaviour. Who puts what in which bin. Which door to keep shut. Where to go when the alarm sounds. The same wording on every floor means nobody can say they didn’t know.
- Fire routes. Inspection tags on each fire door, plus fire exit arrows, a Fire Assembly Point sign outside and Fire Alarm Call Point signs. Your fire risk assessment decides the where; the signs just follow it.
- Meter and plant cupboards. A Gas Mains Shut Off Valve Keep Clear sign on the meter cupboard, and Private or Staff Only door signs on anything tenants shouldn’t open.
- Bin stores. Our recycling and waste signs cover mixed recycling, glass, paper and card, general waste and a firm Do Not Litter. Match the wording to what your council actually collects, or the signs become decoration.
- No smoking. A No Smoking Including E-Cigarettes sign for stairwells, landings and bin stores.
- CCTV. If cameras cover shared areas, a CCTV in Operation sign lets people know they are being recorded. The ICO has guidance on using CCTV responsibly.
For painted walls and doors indoors, self-adhesive vinyl does the job. Outside by the bins, pick 3 mm Dibond: it doesn’t rot, rust or curl.
Outside: parking signs for blocks #
Parking rows between neighbours are the most common complaint a block manager gets. Clear, identical signs at every entrance and every bay take the argument out of it. Our No Parking Except Residents sign sits alongside Reserved Parking, Visitor Parking, Keep Clear and No Responsibility Is Taken for Vehicles Parked.
They come in three sizes, and the size is really a question of how far away the driver is when they need to read it:
| Size | Readable from roughly | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| A3 (297 × 420 mm) | 12 m | A wall right beside the bays |
| A2 (420 × 594 mm) | 17 m | The car park entrance |
| A1 (594 × 841 mm) | 24 m | A post at a road-side entrance |
Each is made on 3.5 mm Correx, 5 mm Foamex or 3 mm Dibond. On a post that faces weather all year round, Dibond is the one that lasts. And put the sign where drivers see it before they pull in, not on the far wall after they’ve parked.
Finding the next tenant: To Let boards #
The most visible of all rental property signs is the board in the front garden. Correx boards are light and waterproof, printed on 3.5 mm or 5 mm board, in A2 (420 × 594 mm), A1 (594 × 841 mm) or A0 (841 × 1189 mm). Single or double sided, with drilled corners if you want to screw or tie them to a post. Standard production is 3 working days.
A quick tip: on a board fixed at right angles to the road, pay for both sides. Half the passing traffic is going the other way. Our explainer on what Correx is covers the two thicknesses. Letting boards also have their own size and timing limits under advertisement rules, so have a word with the council before fixing one up.
The office side #
Agents need the paperwork too. The same order can include letterheads, compliment slips, printed envelopes, business cards, self-inking stamps and address labels for key tags and files. NCR invoice books in A5 with 50 numbered sets suit key receipts and contractor job sheets, because the carbonless copy stays in the book.
Ordering rental property signs #
- Timing. Labels take 7 working days on Saver, 5 on Standard and 3 on Express to dispatch. Safety signs take 4 on Standard, Correx boards 3. The clock starts when the order and artwork are confirmed.
- Artwork. Upload a print-ready file and a person checks it for free, build it in the free online designer, or use the paid artwork service.
- Delivery. £7.95 to UK mainland addresses, free on orders of £100 or more after discounts. Other areas are on the delivery page.
- A whole portfolio? For a set of rental property signs across several buildings, or wording we don’t list, send it through get a quote.