The letting agents i'm using to arrange and manage my to let property are using an independent inventory clerk to prepare the inventory. Is it a common practice to do this? For some reason, I assumed that letting agents themselves or the landlord for that matter should prepare one.

An inventory is basically a list of everything you have in your BTL property. It is quite helpful as it makes it easier to check furniture and fittings when your tenants move in and out. I don’t think that it has to be an independent inventory clerk undertaking this. It’s probably down to the practice established by the particular letting agents. The landlord himself could prepare the list of items in each room, their quality, quantity and any other comments. The form needs to be signed both by tenant and landlord (or their managing agents) before just before moving in.

When I was a tenant, I was renting an unfurnished house and to this day cannot understand why my landlord insisted on signing the inventory. Out of interest, is this practice quite common or was my landlord overcautious?

Some letting agents have practice of taking photographs of the property contents. I would have thought that even if your property is not furnished, inventory could be useful to avoid any potential disputes in the future. Perhaps, it will not be as detailed. If you think about, your fitted kitchen units could be damaged, walls or doors for example. If there is no evidence of what these looked like before your tenants moved in, it would be difficult to prove the extent of the damage.

One of the property I rented not so long ago, part of the inventory was video-taped?! At that time, I thought my letting agent was either an aspiring film-maker or gone a bit loopy .

your landlord must ave had a nasty experience with previous tenants Our present culture of sueing everyone and everything, makes us to go extraordinary lengths to avoid potential litigation.

It's my experience that the lender enjoys doing it to make sure the landlord doesn't pad the inventory list. Not that anyone would be that selfish to do so (yeah right) so it's just to protect them.

Didn't think lender would be bothered about the inventory.

As a independent Inventory clerk i regularly get asked this question. Although lettings agents/landlords could do the inventory report themselves, an inventory are usually professionally trained to recongise fair, wear and tear. external factors which could affect the condition of the property and give an accurate schedule of condition of the btl depending on the the tenant. I have seen many reports produce by agents and landlords and the reports aren't detailed enough and caused disputes when it comes to assessing damage, assigning responisblilty and returning deposit.

the role of an independent inventory clerk has been more cruial as it is now due the creation of the deposit scheme. Having an independent clerk shows there is no bias in the compiling of the report and our expertise in documenting in detail the condition and contents can assist in avoiding disputes.

If you require an inventory clerk please check out: www.citywideinventories.co.uk.

Yeah, I can see the advantages of having a professional to do the inventory. Do you, professional guys, tend to do the ones before the start of the new tenancy and the landlord goes through your list at the end?

Companies also take an inventory every quarter in order to generate numbers for financial reports and tax records. Ideally, most companies want to have just enough inventory to meet current orders. Having too many products languishing in a warehouse can make a company look less appealing to investors and potential customers. Quite often a company will offer significant discounts if the inventory numbers are high and sales are low. This is commonly seen in new car dealerships as the manufacturers release the next year's models before the current vehicles on the lot have been sold. Furniture companies may also offer 'inventory reduction sales' in order to clear out their showrooms for newer merchandise.
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Compensation Claims

This post has been edited by jonymahnty: 15.12.2009, 18:21