Whenever you borrow or rent anything be sure to check its condition before you take possession. That applies to a friend’s tennis racket, a wallpaper stripper, a rental car, or a rented house.
With a house, you have an inventory that tells you what’s included in the property. As well as a condition report which tells you the state of the property generally, as you walk around the property.
Assuming everybody’s fair and reasonable, it is essential that when renting a house you obtain, keep and share a record of everything that was in the house when you took it over and what state of cleanliness and repair the house was in.
With modern technologies and telephones, it’s very easy to take loads of pictures and a good video of the house that help remind you where things were when you start a season. Put them back where they were and take note of what was broken or damaged and what was not. Our experience is that both landlords and tenants are looking to benefit from the other and so it’s even more important a good record is kept at the start so there can be no dispute at the end.
For the landlords, they want the house returned as it was – clean and ready for the next tenant without having to spend hours repairing or cleaning. For the tenant, they want to move on and get their deposit back quickly. These are and should be common objectives and are perfectly possible by creating and sharing great records at the start and honouring your part of the deal. Be that the tenant looking after, cleaning, and reporting issues or the landlords handing over the property clean and carrying out the proper maintenance.
It’s nearly impossible to dispute the condition of something when you have photographs and videos. So make sure if asked, to review and confirm or dispute a condition report. At the end of the tenancy, it is too late to challenge what should have been challenged at the start.
Top tips
Photograph and video the house and your room so that you know where things were at the start. Put them back at the end.
Where you do move things around, take extreme care not to damage the property or the item when moving it. Never try to lift heavy items on your own.
Share your photos and videos with the landlord and your housemates so the record is created and shared.
Remember to think about windows, carpets, gardens, and dustbins. All of which will need to be cleaned at the end of the tenancy if they were clean at the start.
Remember you will need to remove any rubbish from the property and recycle what you can. This may involve a journey to the tip. If a landlord has to remove & clean bins for you, that is a commercial charge the landlord will have to pay and charge you for. For the tenant, it can be fairly easy.
Things happen, things break and accidents occur… The best thing to do is to report the issue immediately & never try to hide it. Leaving it to the end of the tenancy will mean that it requires a repair or replacement in a rush, which is very much more expensive than when done in a relaxed and planned way.
Where you use the services of a professional cleaner be sure to keep their invoice and be sure and clear with them what you want them to do. DO NOT pay them unless they do what you have asked.