Inventories – why have them done?

August 14, 2018

The AIIC (Association of Independent Inventory Clerks) is working towards making inventories mandatory in residential lettings. This has caused a storm not just against inventories being made mandatory, but against having inventories at all. Surely, the need for professional, independent inventories is clearly accepted by now. Or not?

Mandatory or not, we’re convinced of the real value of having a professional inventory, midterm and check out done. Let me set out why.

Part of an agent’s job is to protect the customers’ interests, landlords and tenants alike. Leaving them without any protection for their property or deposit exposes them to risk. Having a detailed, independent inventory with a full set of pictures reduces the risk significantly.

For a landlord regardless of background checks it is not possible to really know your prospective tenants, and how they will treat your property. For a tenant it is not possible to know the landlord nor the property. Even if all works well there is still the possibility of disagreements. So it is in the interest of all parties to have a detailed, independent inventory done, with regular midterms and a check out.

The inventory needs to be independently done, not just seeming to be, to stand up to scrutiny. So not done by the agent who have a hundred other things to attend to. Not by a company run by the lettings agent, and certainly not by the landlord nor the tenant themselves.

The report also needs to be specific to the property, not done choosing more or less fitting options from a drop down menu. This needs to be backed up by a full set of pictures, so that any potential future issue can be easily settled.

This should be done by a clerk who has had proper training with quality control of the report before it is sent out on a timely basis.
Inventories, midterms and check outs provides value for money for agents, landlords and tenants alike when done like this.

Shared by: Ronny Svang

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