Keep your investments safe and avoid unpleasant disputes
A good way of safekeeping your investment property during any tenancy is to ensure you start by having a high quality, comprehensive Inventory and Schedule of Condition report produced by an independent service provider. This document should be discussed with the new Tenant during the Check In and both parties should sign the document agreeing to its accuracy and content.
To ensure the Tenancy proceeds in a mutually beneficial way, we also recommend that mid term inspection visits are undertaken and reports produced. These will check that the terms of the Tenancy are being adhered to, for example; that only the Tenants listed on the Tenancy agreement are living at the property, that no pets have been introduced in contravention of relevant Tenancy agreement clauses, and that the property is being maintained and used appropriately.
The full range of reports that document the Tenancy are:-
- Inventory and Schedule of Condition
- Check In Report
- Mid term and / or 6 monthly Inspection Reports
- Check Out Report
Many tenancies do not have all of these reports and services provided by an independent provider, as many Letting agents will build some of these services into their management agreements with Landlords. However, we would always recommend that any Tenancy should have the Inventory and Schedule of Condition report provided by an independent provider who has the proper insurance cover and is also a member of the one or other of professional industry associations.
Inventory and Schedule of Condition
This report is a type written description of all of the contents of the property, what colour the walls and ceilings are, what floorings are fitted, what lighting is fitted, what heating and windows are fitted, and the condition of each of these items. The report also describes the level of cleanliness of the property and the condition of any outside spaces, garages and outhouses. Each report has embedded in it, a series of high resolution photographs of each room and any areas of damage, marks or dilapidations. The report also records the utility readings and locations of key items like the water stop taps, gas shut off levers, fuse boxes, boilers and smoke/heat/C0 detectors.
Check In Report
This can be separate report that compares the Inventory descriptions to the condition of the property at the actual time the Tenant takes possession of the keys.
Inspection Report
This can be customised to suit individual requirements, but typically it will be a short report on the condition of each room, how many people are living at the property, whether any pets are present, whether smoking is taking place, and noting down any items or issues that require maintenance or may constitute a health and safety breach. The visit also gives the Tenant the opportunity to feed back comments to either the Agent or the Landlord and ask questions as to their responsibilities. A very simple example of a standard item check is to check that the extractor fans are operating in all of the bathrooms and shower rooms. This can be important to prevent mould building up on ceilings and walls.
Check Out Report
The Check Out report provides a comparison of the condition of the property and its contents at the end of the Tenancy to the condition at the start of the Tenancy.
Whether a Check Out report is required will depend on the results of the final inspection and whether substantial charges are likely to apply. However, in the event that either the Landlord, Tenant or Agent wishes to take the matter to the DPS for dispute resolution, we would recommend a Check Out report be produced by an independent service provider.