A company’s survey of some 1,500 tenants suggests inventories at the end of tenancy unduly favour renters – leaving landlords to pay up.

The survey claims “a widespread failure to complete secondary inventories – inspections that occur at the end of a tenancy – resulting in landlords having to cough up to cover repair costs for damage that may well have been caused directly by the tenant.”

The survey reveals that such inspections are in any case not being carried out for 56% of tenancies.

Only 19% of tenants say they have had an experience where, at the end of their tenancy, a secondary inspection highlighted an issue that was not recorded in the original inventory.

If an end-of-tenancy inspection finds damage that was not present at the time of the first inspection, the landlord is in a good position to claim the repair costs from the tenant – often taken from the security deposit.  But this process only works if landlords and agents carefully conduct primary and secondary inspections.

The survey alleges that in 90% of instances, the landlord is having to cough up for property damage that could well be the fault of the tenant. 

A spokesperson for Inventory Base, the firm which commissions the survey, claims: “Without a proper inventory process in place – one which ensures a high standard of inspections at the start and end of a tenancy – landlords have no idea whether a tenant is lying to them about the cause of damage to their property. 

“And even if they do suspect the tenant is lying, they don’t have a leg to stand on because they failed to conduct a proper inventory inspection. The end result: the landlord has no choice but to foot the bill.

“A good inventory practice is central to the successful management of a buy-to-let investment. It’s a landlord’s strongest defence against damage and poor tenant behaviour.”