What’s The Point Of An Inventory From A Tenant’s Point Of View?

That may seem like a fair question, but in fact if you are a tenant moving into a new home, the inventory is all-important. When you move in, you are required to pay a fairly hefty deposit. That is YOUR money and either the landlord or his agents are required to look after it and return it to you when you vacate the property.

That is, unless you have caused any damage during your tenancy which has to be repaired before the property can be let to another tenant. If this is the case, the landlord is entitled to make a claim against the deposit you paid in order to pay for any repairs. All of which seems fair enough.

But this assumes that it was you who caused the damage. What happens if the damage had already been caused by a previous tenant and had not been noticed? What happens if the landlord claims for something that is actually fair wear and tear? This is why an inventory report is so important to you as a tenant.

There is no legal requirement for the landlord or his agents to provide you with an inventory report when you move in, but it is in both your interests to have one. The report should be provided to you when you move in and should detail whether an item is in good condition, fair condition, or has some damage. This is more important in furnished properties because there are a lot more chances for things to go wrong.

However, what is important when you move in is that you take the inventory report and go through the property very carefully in the first few days of your tenancy to note anything that differs from the inventory report. Take photographs if possible. You should then go back to the landlord or his agent pointing out any damage that is not contained in the report.

This means that when you leave the property – provided you have not caused any damage in the meantime – you should be able to recover all of your initial deposit.

The Rise In the Use Of Free Inventory Report Apps

TDS stats have shown that there has been an increase in tenant deposit disputes, with around a third of all agents making a claim. The escalation seems to be in part because it has dawned on people that the process is free of charge so there have been some of them just trying their luck.

The most important thing about taking inventory is that it should be accurate. Today you can download a free property inventory app which will help considerably with ensuring that inventory is correct. Some of these apps have predictive algorithms which suggest items to check and their condition as you go from room to room. Certainly, there is at least one free property inventory app which can be used in either audio or text mode as you choose, and which makes suggestions as you go.

One estate agent that covers Kent and Essex has reported that it has been able to buck the trend of disputes by using an app and by increasing the quality of inventory reports. Instead of outsourcing inventory work, it has brought it in-house and employed its’ own clerks too. It also takes more photographs. This has helped considerably with landlords who it says are more likely to accept wear and tear when they can see it for themselves in the mid-term reports that they receive as time passes.

Another thing that they have done is to introduce a pre-checkout visit three weeks before the checkout. This enables them to show the tenant the original inventory and as a result they have found that there are very few issues when they actually undertake the final inspection.

Many agents do, of course, use a third party to prepare reports on the basis that there are less likely to be any issues over conflict of interest. However, it is interesting to note that this can still arise if the agent is accused of paying their favourite third party to produce the report.

What is most important is that reports are as accurate as they can be and that plenty of photographs are taken, because, as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.