Tenant Tips - End Of Term Inspections – What Do You Need To Do?
We all know that moving home can be stressful especially when you’re juggling life between two properties, but your end of term inspection doesn’t need to add to your troubles.
What is an End of Term Inspection?
End of term inspections are a final check carried out at the end of a tenancy after you have vacated and handed back the keys. This check is an essential part of the vacating process to allow the agent or the landlord to compare the property against the original inventory (statement of condition) that you signed at the commencement of the tenancy. This is the beginning process to return your deposit.
What happens at the end of term inspection?
Our end of term inspection consists of us comparing the original inventory that is provided at the commencement of a tenancy against the current condition of the property. Where any amendments have been made to an inventory, this amended copy will be used when we carry out our check. We check every point of the property against what the inventory states and once we have carried out our inspection, we will contact both the tenant and landlord to discuss any differences we have noted. Of course, we hope there will be no issues noted during this final inspection so that the deposit can be released at the earliest opportunity.
The key aspect of this inspection is to check for any damage to the property. This includes but is not limited to flooring, tiling, fixtures & fittings, windows, doors, fitted appliances etc.
However, the most frequent issues we encounter include:
Cleaning
Blown/missing light bulbs
Smoke alarm batteries
Overgrown gardens/weeds
Items/rubbish left behind
We would recommend tenants to thoroughly check the property against the inventory and ensure light bulbs and smoke alarms are in working order prior to vacating the property.
Where pets have been kept at a property, the carpets/flooring/fixtures and fittings/soft furnishings at the property will need to be free from pet odour, fleas, scratching, staining, damage etc and left in the same condition that they were at the start of the tenancy as per the inventory/statement of condition.
Keys will need to be returned to Maldon Lettings by close of business on the vacating date so that we may carry out our end of term inspection which would, where possible, take place following working day. The property is not deemed to be returned until the keys have been received back.
Allowances are always made for fair wear and tear.
What happens to the deposit?
If there are no issues reported permission will be given to the DPS for the full deposit amount to be released to the tenant.
However, if any issues are raised during the end of term inspection, we will discuss them with both the tenant and the landlord to ensure an agreement can be met for any dilapidations and compensation that may be required. Once an agreement has been made these will be submitted to the DPS for you to confirm with them and the remaining deposit will be paid to you. The DPS will pay any deductions directly to the contractor or landlord depending on the circumstance.
Whether there are any issues or not the tenant needs to log on to their account with the DPS (depositprotection.com) where all parties must agree to either the deposit being returned in full or part. The DPS will have sent you details of the deposit registration within approximately 4 weeks of the commencement of the tenancy, in preparation of this process and as confirmation that the deposit has been registered.
We want to assure you that Maldon Lettings Limited do not benefit from this process or any deductions in any way and we would much prefer there not to be any issues, this is simply part of our job to ensure this is carried out on behalf of both parties.