The responsibilities of a tenant and landlord do not end when the tenancy agreement ends. There is a process to follow and requirements to take care of. Tenants have their own responsibilities and landlords have theirs as well. It’s important that both know what each has to do to ensure an issue-free moving out.
Whether you are a tenant or landlord, it is important to follow and do all the necessary steps – from the checkout all the way to preparing the property for the next tenant. To guide you through the process, it is essential to have a tenant or landlord checklist.
End of tenancy checklist for tenants
- Inform your landlord
Before anything else, review the tenancy agreement to find out if there are terms you may have missed. If you have a fixed-term tenancy and you are moving out before the end of the agreement, there are certain stipulations you need to follow.
If you have a periodic tenancy, your landlord has to be informed about your plan to move out at least one month before the date you chose.
You also have to inform the local authorities about your scheduled move. Ensure you provide them with the complete details – the date, where you are moving to, and what your new address would be.
- Inform your utilities provider and any other entity that needs your personal details
Give your providers at least a month’s notice before you move out. At the same time, give them your new details – specifically your address and contact number.
Get in touch with your insurance provider, bank, employer, doctors, the DVLA or Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the HMRC or HM Revenue and Customs, family and friends, and building society.
- Check the condition of the property and do a deep clean
One of the terms in your tenancy agreement is your responsibility to keep the property in good condition and leave it in the same condition that it was in when you first moved in. It should be clean throughout the property, so it would be a good idea to do a deep clean.
A deep clean includes a total cleaning of appliances like the oven, freezer, and microwave (if they were provided free to use by the landlord). Other than these items, though, you also have to ensure all parts of the property are thoroughly cleaned. Pay attention to the windows, fireplace and chimney (if you have them), the gutter, and your backyard, garden, or porch. It’s also important to ensure all linen, curtains, and upholstery are clean.
- Repair decorative damage
Tenants are responsible only for minor repairs, particularly those involving decorative items such as nails, screws, and hooks on walls. Broken or malfunctioning light bulbs should also be replaced with new ones, especially if they were in good condition when your tenancy started.
- Document everything you do
After cleaning and organising the property, take photos of every room, corner, furniture, appliances, and fixtures. If you can, ensure all your photos have timestamps. These documents will serve as evidence in case you’ll need to file a tenancy deposit protection compensation claim.
- Ask your landlord for your deposit refund
If you followed all the terms in the tenancy agreement, get in touch with your landlord and inform them you’re ready to move out and the deposit refund should be ready.
Landlord’s checklist
- Know the reasons why tenancies end
There are four reasons why tenancies end:
– It is the end of the fixed-term tenancy
– The tenant or landlord files a notice to terminate the tenancy
– The tenant and landlord are in mutual agreement to end the contract
– Eviction or court possession order
If you intend to end your tenant’s tenancy, you must inform them of your decision at least 28 days before the date they should leave. If it is the tenant’s choice to leave, they should send you a notice as early as four weeks before the scheduled move.
Send your tenant a written notice of confirmation for the end of tenancy. All the pertinent details must be indicated in the notice.
- Perform a check-out inspection
A check-out will help you go through the home to verify if there are damages or issues. Be sure to do the check-out with the tenant around so you can talk about how to deal with damages and other issues, if there are any.
Look out for red flags such as damp, mould, the presence of pests, leaks, faulty smoke alarms and detectors, blocked gutter and drains, appliance issues, and stains that do not belong to the wear and tear category.
- Refund tenancy deposits
If you are a responsible landlord, you’d have protected your tenant’s deposit through any of the three government-approved tenancy deposit protection schemes. Now that your tenant has moved out and ended the tendency, you have to be the responsible landlord that you are and hand over their deposit refund. You have to do this within ten days, especially for custodial scheme protected tenancies).
You and your tenant must compromise and come up with a deposit refund settlement that benefits both parties.
If landlords do not return deposits
There are landlords who do not respond to deposit refund requests and there’s a landlord who has not protected a tenant deposit. Situations like this delay the process, so you should take action against such landlords by filing a tenancy protection compensation claim.
Get in touch with a team of expert solicitors, such as the ones at Tenancy Deposit Claims, who are authorised and regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. They are highly experienced and committed to helping tenants like you win tenancy deposit claims.
Speak Your Mind