Check-out inventory

Landlord Discussion
1

Hi there,

I have a Q re inventories - my tenants are leaving and my tenants are moving in shortly after - can I use their check-out inventory as my check-in inventory for the new set of tenants?

2

Hi Elham, thanks for your post.

We would advise a check out is ordered for your current tenancy, and a separate inventory (and check in if needed) is ordered for your new tenancy.

The aim of a check out is to assess how the current tenants left the property, and to compare the assessment to their move in inventory. If you believe that any funds should be deducted from a deposit to cover damages, then the relevant deposit scheme will ask for both of these documents as evidence to your claim.

The aim of a move in inventory (and check in) is to record how the tenants receive the property from the landlord. So if you do any work or cleaning to the property in between the old tenants moving out, and the new tenants moving in, this is recorded in the new tenancy inventory.

If you were to use a check out as an inventory any work or cleaning that was done before the new tenants moving in would not be recorded, which could cause problems for your later on if you wanted to claim any damages on a deposit.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Elinor

3

OpenRent Information on Inventory, Check in and Check out is very confusing. So what if the tenants vacate and new tenants move in same day? Openrent states there is a 40 pound extra. Why? what is the difference? For a separate day, there is an additional 60 quid so not sure what the 40 pound is necessary. you can’t carry out improvements to the property on the same day

4

Thanks for your message and sorry to hear of the confusion this is generating.

The purpose of inventories is for the tenant and landlord agree a schedule (or record) of the condition of the property at the start and end of the tenancy. Best practice for achieving this is to have an inventory conducted at the the start (schedule of condition) and a check out at the end (comparison of current state vs initial inventory) of each tenancy. That said, this is ultimately upto the landlord.

Landlords will rely on an inventory should they need to claim for any damages, so ensuring that you have a report that accurately reflects the condition of the property (signed by the tenant to show that they agree to the record) is important.

We offer professional inventory services as well a DIY template with instructions and you can see further details here: https://www.openrent.co.uk/landlord-inventory-and-check-in-services