How we've made inventories easy - & why you need one

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) revealed in September that only one in eight of landlords uses an inventory as a tool to help manage their lettings. We think this is a big mistake. Here’s why.

Even if you are letting your rental home unfurnished, there are still fixtures and fittings to take into consideration: carpets, curtains, wall and ceiling finishes and kitchen and bathroom fittings can all get damaged during the course of a tenancy and may be costly to replace. Good tenants will look after your home as their own but many will not. And with the best will in the world it is still possible to drop a glass of red wine on the carpet or chip a sink by mistake. By putting together a comprehensive inventory, you and your tenants have a clear picture of exactly what you are providing and what condition it is in - both at the beginning and the end of their rental journey with you. Wear and tear is inevitable but if you haven’t logged the original condition of your property, a tenant is unlikely to accept the return of anything less than their full deposit when they move out. It works in the tenants favour too because they know anything the landlord is taking off their deposit at the end of the tenancy is legitimate. So a detailed inventory, accompanied by photographs, is the easiest and most straightforward way to avoid rows and bad feeling.

The NRLA has this advice for property owners: “If a dispute does occur over damage to the property, you as the claimant are responsible for proving the damage occurred. Without an accurate inventory that has been agreed by all parties it is extremely unlikely you will make a successful claim for damages”.

So we’ve made it really easy to put together an inventory for your rented properties. Landlords using our automated lettings platform PlanetRent have instant access to our DIY inventory tool that does all the hard work for you. You can use Quick Inventory (QI) which auto feeds your inventory and meter readings into Move-In Checks and emails it to tenants to e-sign. Or, you can use our national network of licenced inventory clerks. This is just one of the great features we’ve built into our software to make your lettings journey as easy as possible. It’s pay-as-you-go, with no contract or subscriptions, so why not try PlanetRent today?