Landlords are being warned by the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) that incomplete inventories are costing their tenants thousands of pounds.
That’s because items listed in a property inventory have gone missing during a tenancy but growing numbers of tenants dispute this.
The issue is being highlighted as landlords with student tenants enter their traditionally busy period as tenancies turnover.
Now the AIIC is urging landlords, letting agents as well as tenants, to take extra note of their inventory to prevent disputes from occurring.
Indeed, the organisation points to a recent Kiwi Movers survey which revealed that 52% of tenants said they had experienced issues having their deposit returned by their landlord.
Missing inventory items cost tenants money
One of the most common reasons for this – which affected one in five respondents – was items going missing from the inventory.
Other issues which saw the deposit being retained or partly refunded was to pay for cleaning, minor repairs and for unpaid bills.
The AIIC’s chairman, Pat Barber, urged tenants to double check the inventory when their tenancy begins and to check it again when they move out.
She added: “If there is an item missing it can be cheaper for a tenant to replace it rather than for the letting agent or landlord doing so.”
She added that using an inventory clerk would ensure impartiality during the checkout process and, she hoped, that the number of deposit disputes will be kept to a minimum as result.
Right to Rent discrimination claims for landlords – warning
A legal expert is warning that landlords and letting agents are running the risk of discrimination when they enforce the new Right to Rent immigration checks.
Mark Lilley-Tams, a solicitor at Paragon Law, said there are questions about a landlord’s ability to carry out the check properly because of the wide range of documents that immigrants could produce.
He added: “Letting agents and landlords may become subject to discrimination claims by wrongly refusing to rent a property to someone on immigration grounds.”
Right to Rent scheme being piloted
The new scheme is currently being trialled in the West Midlands and due to rollout around the UK later this year.
In the pilot, landlords and agents have to check all tenants for their immigration status and keep those records for up to a year after the tenancy ends.
The new scheme also applies to those taking in lodgers and for tenants who are subletting a property.
Landlords and agents run the risk of a £3,000 fine if they fail to abide by the new planned regulations.
