An estate agent/letting agent or landlord has a right to take an inventory of the rental property when furnished or not furnished before letting it out to potential tenants. An inventory document will list all items in the property and the current condition of the property at the time the property is being rented
The tenant, landlord or letting agent should be present when the inventory is done so that they can agree and sign as to the condition of the property as listed in the inventory.
At the end of the tenancy, both landlord/letting agents and the tenant should perform a checkout inventory using the initial/original inventory list as a cross-reference guide. The landlord/letting agent should be advised that if he/she fails to do an inventory check with the tenant present at the start of the tenancy, it will be difficult for them to establish the tenant’s liability at the end of the tenancy and ask he/she to repair damage to the property or replace damaged items.
In either case if the tenant decides to dispute the contents of the inventory and likewise if the landlord states that they will make deductions from the tenancy deposit due to damage to the property, the tenant can raise a dispute with the tenancy deposit scheme that holds the tenancy deposit.
