A check-in report records the condition of a property at the start of a tenancy. A check-out report records it at the end. A deposit dispute is, almost entirely, the comparison between the two.
That is the whole concept. What follows is what actually goes in them, and where they go wrong.
What a check-in report contains
A proper one is a room-by-room description plus photographs, covering:
- Every room, with its walls, ceiling, floor covering, windows and doors
- Fixtures and fittings — sockets, switches, radiators, light fittings, handles
- Kitchen units, worktops and every supplied appliance, inside and out
- Bathroom fittings, sealant and grout
- Any furniture supplied, itemised
- Meter readings and serial numbers
- Keys, by number and type
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and whether they were tested
- The garden, shed, garage or parking space where they are included
Each item gets a condition description and, in a good report, a photograph.
Who writes it
An independent inventory clerk. The strongest version. A third party with no interest in the outcome, whose reports adjudicators are used to reading.
The letting agent. Common, and generally accepted, though it is not independent.
The landlord. Also common with smaller landlords. Accepted, but carries less weight, especially if it is thin.
Nobody. Extremely common. There is no legal requirement to produce one.
You cannot choose which of these you get. What you can always do is add your own.
The signature is not the point
Most renters think their job is to sign it. It is not. Their job is to check it.
You will usually be given a window — often around seven days — to review, comment and return it. Walk the property with the document open and go line by line.
Where it is vague or wrong, write your own words:
- "Living room carpet: 'good condition'. There is a 20cm stain 1m from the radiator. Photographed."
- "Kitchen: chipped worktop edge left of sink not recorded. Photographed."
- "Bathroom: 'sealant good'. Sealant behind bath is lifting at the corner and discoloured."
Then email it, so it is dated and you hold a copy.
Vagueness is what to attack. "Good condition" is an opinion that stretches to fit whatever is convenient later. "Some wear" means nothing. Replace opinions with descriptions of what is physically there.
If there's no check-in report, you can still make your own dated record on day one. Our move-in checklist takes you through the property room by room.
If there is no check-in report
This is better for you than most people assume — but only if you act.
With no check-in record, a landlord claiming damage at the end has very little to show the property was ever in better condition. But if you also have nothing, the dispute becomes two accounts with nothing behind either, and adjudicators have to decide on what is in front of them.
So write your own. Photograph the property systematically before anything comes in, describe each room, and email the lot to the landlord or agent on day one:
"As no inventory has been provided, this is my record of the property's condition on [date]. Please let me know within seven days if you disagree with anything in it."
Silence is not agreement, but it is a dated record that they were given the opportunity to disagree and did not. In practice that carries real weight.
Our move-in inventory checklist covers what to include.
The check-out report
At the end, the property is inspected against the check-in record.
Two things are worth doing:
Ask to be present. You can point out what was already recorded, and you will know what was said on the day rather than reading a conclusion three weeks later.
Ask for a copy in writing. You need it to respond to any deductions, and to compare against your own set.
Do not rely on the check-out report as your record of how you left the property. Take your own photographs of the empty property on the last day, from the same positions as your move-in shots, and email them the same evening. Our free move-out inspection checklist lists what to photograph in each room.
Why check-in matters more than check-out
The landlord controls or commissions the check-out report, and it will be written after you have gone.
The check-in record is the one that fixes the starting point, and once fixed it cannot be revised. Everything a landlord claims at the end is a claim that something changed from it. A strong check-in record does not just help you argue — it limits what can be argued at all.
Which is why the half hour you spend on the inventory on the day you move in is worth more than anything you do on the day you leave.
How adjudicators read them
A reminder of what these documents are for: an adjudicator never sees the property. They read two files and decide which one supports its claims. A report is persuasive to the extent that it is specific, dated and photographed.
"Kitchen: good" tells them nothing. "Kitchen worktop: laminate, 2 small chips to the edge left of the sink, photographed, otherwise sound" tells them a great deal — and it protects whoever recorded it.
How the deposit dispute resolution service works covers the process itself.
The short version
- A check-in report fixes the starting condition; a check-out report records the finishing one
- Nobody is obliged to produce either
- Your job at check-in is to check it, not sign it — and to comment in writing
- If there is no report, make your own and email it on day one
- Be present at check-out, and ask for the report
- Take your own dated photographs at both ends regardless
Where RentSeal fits
RentSeal is a way to keep your own version of both: one tenancy, photographs organised by room, notes attached, dated as they are added, exportable as a single pack. You can see how it works first.
It records condition. It does not decide responsibility, and this guide is not legal advice.