How to Complete a Tenancy Check-Out Report Against the Check-In File

Keys come back and the landlord either cleans first or walks a new room order, so the check-out file cannot sit next to the check-in lines — cleanliness and damage blur, photos have no pair, and proposed deductions are a memory list. Walk the same afternoon, before any clean, in the start-file room order, with cleanliness and condition on separate lines. Count keys and meters as fields only, then send the written file.

Friday, keys on the worktop. The landlord books a cleaner for Saturday and photographs the empty rooms on Sunday. The check-in used hallway → kitchen → bathroom and “good / fair”. The new photos are a camera roll. A later oven-grease line has no check-in pair and no quote number.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

When to walk after the keys come back?

Do the visit as soon as keys return — ideally the last day after they have fully vacated — and before any clean or make-good. A check-out report is the written end snapshot compared to the start inventory. A walk after the cleaner or the painter is a different property.

Do start the walk the same afternoon keys sit on the worktop. Do not book the cleaner first. TDS wants a contemporaneous snapshot — recorded at handover, not days later after a clean — and completed before any cleaning or remedial works. A late walk leaves room to argue dust, mould, or someone else entering the empty property.

TAS times the walk the moment keys come back. If you cannot be there the same hour, keep the property secured and walk within a day or two. In practice a Saturday clean wipes the oven-grease line you needed.

How do you walk the same room order as the check-in?

Open the check-in file first. Walk the same room order with the same short grade words, or write a schedule of differences — a list of what changed against the start lines. A check-out is the answer to the check-in, not a second inventory.

Do write which start document (date and who wrote it) you compared against. Do not invent a new room order or a new grade vocabulary. mydeposits wants the same format and terminology, or a schedule of the differences, plus photos from the same angles. Photos supplement the written lines; they are not a substitute for dirt or smell.

Latch wants the same order and the same level of detail, with a written comparison per item. For example, if the start file ran hallway → kitchen → bathroom, walk that path. A wall “marked” at the end only matters if the start line said it was not.

Without a start inventory, a later claim is hard to evidence. Build that file separately — see how to do a property inventory check-in. Do not pretend a check-out can invent a baseline. Keys and meters are fields only: count keys and fobs back, note closing readings if they sit on the start file, then stop.

Why does cleanliness need a separate line from condition?

Condition and cleanliness are not the same. If the start file only graded condition, a later cleaning list cannot prove cleanliness got worse. Write both on the end file, on separate lines, so each can carry its own photo.

Do write “kitchen cleanliness: oven grease on hob” and “kitchen condition: cracked tile at sink” as two lines. Do not paste “kitchen: dirty / damaged” as one blob. TDS treats condition and cleanliness as different records.

Independent Landlord measures both on the same scale and, if you propose money off, writes with reasons, quotations, and before-and-after photos. In practice an unclean oven is a cleaning line; a cracked worktop is a condition line.

The short workflow is Keys back → Open the check-in → Invite → Same room order → Separate cleanliness and condition → Keys and meters as fields → Itemise with photo and quote → Send the written file.

What if the tenant skips the joint check-out?

Invite them in writing and keep the invitation. Record who attended — invited, present, or absent. If they skip the joint visit, still complete the report the same day and send the copy.

Do not invent a legal duty to wait for a perfect joint appointment. TDS treats the tenant being present as useful, not required. Shelter notes the last-day walk is common; an inspection after they have left is not illegal, but they only see the report later.

If they refuse to sign, still send and keep the report. DPS says a later reader looks at the evidence, not only the signature. An email agreeing the report is usable. Invite, walk the same day, send the written file. A file they never saw is the hidden risk. Do not invent a statutory clock.

What to put next to each proposed deduction?

Itemise each proposed deduction after the walk, not from memory. Each line needs the start-file line it is compared to, whether it is cleanliness or condition, a photo reference, and a quote or invoice reference. A chat total is not a line.

Do write one row per change. Do not lump a make-good total. Write to the tenant with reasons, quotations, and before-and-after photos. Latch and TAS describe sending the report with evidence — their process often says within ten working days. Prefer the same day. Do not treat that figure as a statute.

Do file the sent email with the tenancy: start file, end file, photos, invitation, sent copy. A later scheme pack — TDS, DPS, or mydeposits as a destination only — can reuse the same rows. Stop here. Keep money records beside it if you already keep a rent schedule that shows who paid which period.

Success bar: walk as soon as keys return and before any clean, use the same check-in order, split cleanliness versus condition, record keys and meters as fields only, itemise deductions with photo and quote references, send the written file — then stop. Verify the sent email.

A workspace that keeps the lease, both files and the photos can replace a chat thread and a camera roll. IziRento is operations software for that file.