"If there is damage at the end of the tenancy, or the standard of cleaning is not the same as it was when the tenant moved in, without a start of tenancy inventory there will be no evidence to show the extent of any differences and a deposit deduction is unlikely to be successful."
Suzy Hershman, Head of Dispute Resolution at mydeposits
Detailed Inventory & Check-In / Check-Out Overview:
An inventory report is defined as the "Production of the schedule of condition", in reality this is a detailed description of the condition of each room and its fixtures and content, as well as extensive photos.
A check-in is the handover of the property to the new tenants at the beginning of the tenancy. A clerk will meet the new tenant(s), at a social distance, and handover the keys and any additional information regarding the property. A preliminary check-in report will then be emailed to the tenant(s) for them to review and comment on. After seven days, the final report is completed and supplied to the landlord.
A check-out is the handover of the property from the tenants at the end of a tenancy, which involves a review of the state of condition, compared to any initial inventory. If you don't have an ingoing inventory (created at the start of the tenancy), a good check out report will still be evidence of the condition the property was left in and also if the tenant broke any clauses in the tenancy agreement i.e. not allowed to keep pets. Whilst without an ingoing inventory it will be harder to prove evidence for deposit deductions, a check out report without an ingoing inventory is still better than no check out done at all.
OpenRent offers an Inventory report on its own, an Inventory plus check-in service, or an end of tenancy check-out service.
At the end of a tenancy, we don't recommend doing all three on the same day. As often the exit condition of the property is not up to the standard you would want for the new tenancy. Hence, we advise allowing some time to fix any issues and having a new inventory created.