What is an inventory, and does it actually matter?

What it is

A dated record of the property's contents and condition at the start of a tenancy, ideally prepared or checked in the tenant's presence and signed by both sides. Paired with it at the end is the check out report, recording the same items in the same order.

Neither document is compulsory in England or Scotland. Both decide the outcome of nearly every deposit dispute.

Why it decides disputes

Deposit adjudication is decided on documents. The adjudicator was not there, has not seen the property, and is comparing what you each submit. A claim that a carpet was damaged means nothing without evidence of what the carpet looked like at the start.

So the pattern is predictable. No inventory usually means the landlord loses contested deductions. A thorough inventory with dated photographs usually means fair deductions succeed and unfair ones get reduced. It is also the document that decides the age and condition questions behind the betterment rule, which is the most common reason claims are cut down.

What a good one contains

• Date, and who prepared it. An independent inventory clerk carries more weight than a landlord's own note.
• Room by room description of walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors and fittings, with condition stated rather than just listed. Good condition is weak; light scuff to left of door frame is strong.
• Dated photographs of every room, including inside cupboards, the oven and the bathroom sealant.
• Every item you supplied, with make, model and condition for appliances.
• Meter readings for gas, electricity and water.
• Keys and fobs, counted.
• Alarm tests, recording that smoke and heat alarms were working on the day.
• Cleanliness standard, described specifically, because cleaning is the most common deduction and the standard at check in is the benchmark the tenant has to return it to.
• Signatures, or a stated period for the tenant to comment and add their own observations.

The check out report

Done in the same order, against the same items, ideally by the same firm. The value of the inventory disappears if the check out is a different document in a different format.

Record what has changed, and be specific about whether the change is wear or damage. A four year old carpet looking worn is expected. A burn is not. The inventory tells you which you have, and it is the reason inspection reports during the tenancy matter too, because they show when a problem first appeared.

What it costs

From tariffs we collected across five cities, an inventory runs from about ninety five pounds plus VAT at Umega in Edinburgh to one hundred and fifty pounds plus VAT at Lawrence Copeland in Manchester, which makes it free for its managed clients. Rent Flats Dundee publishes ninety five pounds.

Against a deposit of five weeks of rent, which on a one thousand pound property is over eleven hundred pounds, an independent inventory is inexpensive insurance. Landlords who skip it to save a hundred pounds routinely lose several times that in a single contested deduction.

What tenants should do

1. Read it properly before signing, on the day if possible.
2. Disagree in writing where it is wrong, and do it within any comment period stated.
3. Add your own dated photographs on move in day, of anything already damaged or marked. Take them even if the inventory looks thorough.
4. Photograph meters on day one.
5. Keep your copy for the whole tenancy, and keep it somewhere you will still find it in four years.
6. Do the same on the day you leave, after cleaning, before handing back the keys.

Twenty minutes with a phone camera at each end is the cheapest protection available to a tenant, and it is the thing most people wish they had done when a deduction arrives.