The problem
New tenants ring about the same things: the boiler pressure, the stopcock, bin days, the fuse box, how to read the meters. Across 5 flats, about 6 of these calls and messages a month at 10 minutes each is an hour a month, often in the evening.
What the AI does
Write the facts for each flat in rough notes: where the stopcock and fuse box are, how to top up the boiler pressure, bin days, meter locations, the gas emergency number, and how to report a repair. Paste the notes into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, without tenant names or key safe codes, and ask for a short, friendly guide with headings and the emergency steps first. The assistant only words what you give it, so you check every fact and safety instruction before it goes to tenants.
A worked example
A landlord in Southampton has 5 flats and answers about 6 'how do I' calls and messages a month. They write a one-page note per flat, have it turned into a guide, check it, and send it with the tenancy paperwork and keep a copy in each flat.
Before
About 6 calls and messages a month at 10 minutes each: 60 minutes
After
About 2 a month at 10 minutes each: 20 minutes, after about an hour per flat writing and checking the guide once
What it's worth
About $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month saved, on the free plans. That is 40 minutes a month (60 down to 20), valued at $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour; writing the 5 guides takes a few hours once. The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are enough at this volume; a paid plan costs up to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for one person.
How to set it up
- For each flat, write rough notes on the stopcock, fuse box, boiler, heating controls, meters, bins, parking and how to report repairs.
- Paste one flat's notes into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask for a one-page guide with headings, emergency steps first, in plain English.
- Check every fact and safety instruction against the flat itself; correct anything the assistant has guessed.
- Send the guide with the move-in paperwork and leave a printed copy in the flat.
- Update the guide whenever something changes, such as a new boiler or a change to bin days.
What goes wrong
- An assistant can fill gaps with plausible guesses, such as a bin day or a boiler setting. Give it only facts and check every line.
- Don't paste tenant names, phone numbers or key safe codes into a consumer AI chat.
- The guide doesn't replace the documents you must give tenants by law, such as the gas safety record and EPC.