General information, not legal advice. It follows HSE guidance, which covers Great Britain. Checked October 2026.
Water that sits still in the pipes of an empty holiday let gives Legionella bacteria the conditions they need. HSE's guidance for landlords says outlets on hot and cold water systems should be used at least once a week, and that a property should be flushed through before it's let again. The holiday let water flushing planner turns your empty dates into a flushing plan, and gives you a record sheet listing each outlet by name, so you can show that every one was run.
How to use the water flushing planner
- Enter the date the last guests leave and the date the next guests arrive. Add more empty spells to plan a quiet month at once.
- Name every outlet in the property: each tap, shower, bath and toilet, plus outside taps. Tick any that guests rarely use, such as a second shower.
- Choose your visit day if you have one, whether the final flush is the day before arrival or on the day, and how the hot water is heated.
- Print the plan to get a record sheet for each visit, or copy the dates into your calendar.
Get your flushing dates and a record sheet for each visit
Enter when the property will be empty to see your flushing plan.
A worked example
Say the last guests leave on a Saturday and the next arrive three weeks later, also on a Saturday. You can visit on Fridays, and you'd like the final flush done the day before arrival.
The planner gives two weekly flushes on the first and second Fridays after checkout, then a final flush on the Friday before the guests arrive: three visits in all. Each visit has its own table on the record sheet, listing every outlet by name with space for a tick, optional temperatures and notes.
Why outlets are run every week
Legionella bacteria grow in water that sits still and lukewarm. HSE's guidance on Legionella and landlords' responsibilities says outlets on hot and cold water systems should be used at least once a week to keep the water moving. For properties left empty, it says to put a suitable flushing regime in place, or other measures such as draining the system, and to flush the system through before letting it again.
The guidance applies to anyone who rents out a property under a lease or licence shorter than seven years, and a holiday stay is a licence lasting days. It also says most landlords can assess the risk themselves, without professional training. The flushing plan is one of the control measures that assessment points to, not a replacement for it; building your holiday let compliance file before your first guest covers what the assessment should record.
How long to run each outlet
Run each one until the water temperature is steady and close to the temperature of the supply, then for one more minute. For most outlets in a house that takes 2 to 5 minutes. Run the hot and cold sides of a mixer tap separately, so both pipes are flushed.
Keep the flow gentle and let the water run straight to the drain. HSE's guidance on hot and cold water systems says to flush through to drain without releasing aerosols, the fine spray that carries bacteria into the air. With a shower, lower the head into the tray or bath before turning it on.
Naming every outlet
A record that says "all taps run" can't show which ones were missed. Listing each outlet by name, such as "en-suite basin" or "garden tap", gives whoever does the flushing a checklist to work through, and gives you a record that shows each outlet was run on each date.
Outlets guests rarely use need the same weekly flush even while the property is occupied, because a full house doesn't mean every tap gets turned on. A second shower, a utility sink and an outside tap are the usual ones. Tick them in the planner and it reminds you to include them in a weekly round.
Recording temperatures
The temperature columns on the record sheet are optional. If you have a thermometer, HSE's checks for hot and cold water systems are hot water reaching at least 50°C within a minute of running, and cold water below 20°C after running for two minutes. Where there's a hot water cylinder, HSE's landlord guidance says it should store water at 60°C. Raise any reading outside these figures with whoever carried out your risk assessment.
Long empty spells and winter
For a property empty for weeks at a time, the weekly visit can do several jobs at once. Holiday let winter maintenance: frozen pipes, heating and empty weeks covers the heating, pipes and checks that fit into the same visit. Draining down is the other option HSE mentions for long periods, but it's usually a job for a plumber and means the property can't take a short-notice booking while it's drained.
What the planner leaves out
The planner works out dates and gives you a record sheet; it doesn't assess your water system. Tanks, unused pipework, hot tubs and anything beyond ordinary household taps and showers belong in your risk assessment. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere, so print or copy your plan before you close the page.
Next steps once you have your dates
Put the visit dates in your calendar, or send them to whoever does the visits, and keep the completed record sheets with your risk assessment. Before the first guests after a long gap, clean the showerheads as part of the changeover; the holiday let deep clean checklist covers showerheads and the outlets guests rarely use.