Landlords advised to remind vacating tenants of inventory
Owners of buy-to-let properties should send their tenants a full inventory before they leave in order to prevent any disputes over deposits.
That is according to David Lawrenson, a buy-to-let and private rented sector expert at landlord advice provider LettingFocus.com, who says that doing this will mean there are no surprises for either tenant or owner when the contract comes to an end.
"About a month before the end of tenancy I will send them a copy of the inventory from when they moved in and some guidelines about what I expect in terms of cleaning because they always forget to do the same things," he says.
"They must leave it as they found it, fair wear and tear excepted. I find that always works and I have not had to withhold any deposit monies for damages or cleaning for 15 years."
Mr Lawrenson explains that reminding the tenant of how the property was before they moved in and letting them know what they are expected to do beforehand "saves a whole lot of disputes" that could occur if this is left until after they have vacated the premises.
"Unfortunately, what happens is that many letting agents and landlords are not so proactive and don't tell the tenants anything. They then leave it in a state and the landlord has got a problem, has to withhold some of the deposit to cover damages and may have a dispute if the tenant feels the withholding of the deposit has been unfair," he says.
"If they were a bit more proactive at the end of a tenancy then they would have a lot less problems than they have."
Landlords can get more information on avoiding deposit disputes with the help of a guide recently published by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, the Deposit Protection Service and mydeposits.co.uk called The Guide to Tenancy Deposits, Disputes and Damages.
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