What the inventory clerk is actually looking at

The report is a comparison, not a verdict

A clerk is not grading the property. They are documenting its condition against the inventory taken at check-in, with photographs and dated notes. If the check-in report was thin, the check-out report cannot prove anything — which is why agents who skimp at the start lose deductions at the end.

Everything below assumes a proper check-in exists. If it does not, the deposit scheme will usually find for the tenant.

Kitchen — where most deductions are won or lost

• Oven interior, door glass, racks, grill pan and the seal around the door
• Extractor filters and the hood above the hob
• Fridge and freezer: seals, drawers, defrosted or not, odour
• Behind and beneath white goods where they can be pulled out safely
• Cupboard interiors, drawer runners, under the sink
• Limescale on taps, around the sink and on the splashback

The oven alone accounts for a large share of disputed deductions. It is also the single item most often left until last and done badly.

Bathrooms

• Grout and silicone seals — discolouration against mould are recorded differently
• Limescale on screens, taps, shower heads and tiles
• Extractor fan grille and the ceiling around it
• Toilet including the hinges, the cistern top and behind the pan
• Plugholes and visible waste traps

Through the property

• Carpets: stains, burns, pet hair, and whether they have been cleaned rather than vacuumed
• Walls: marks, scuffs, picture hooks, filled holes, and the difference between wear and damage
• Windows inside, frames, sills, and the runners on sliding doors
• Skirting, radiators including behind them, light fittings and switch plates
• Garden, bins, sheds and any outside space named in the inventory
• Keys, fobs, manuals, remote controls and anything else listed at check-in

Fair wear and tear — the line that matters

Deposit schemes expect a property to be returned in the same condition as at check-in, allowing for fair wear and tear given the length of the tenancy and the number of occupants. A four-year-old carpet in a family let is not expected to look new. A burn in it is not wear.

The practical test clerks apply: could this have happened through normal use over this period, with no carelessness? If yes, it is wear. If it required an event, it is damage.

A note on professional cleaning in England

Since the Tenant Fees Act 2019, a tenancy agreement in England cannot require the tenant to pay for professional cleaning as a condition of the tenancy. The tenant must return the property in the condition recorded at check-in, allowing for fair wear — and if they do not, a reasonable cleaning cost can still be deducted from the deposit, evidenced by the reports.

The practical consequence for agents is that evidence does all the work. A clean carried out without a dated photographic record is hard to charge for. This is why every property we prepare comes with a photo report on completion — see end of tenancy cleaning.

How to make the check-out painless

• Book the clean after the tenant has removed everything, never before
• Give the cleaner the check-in report, not just the address
• Photograph the finished property the same day, with timestamps
• Allow 48 hours between clean and check-out so anything flagged can be put right
• Treat the oven, the carpets and the windows as separate line items, because the clerk does

This note is general information about how end-of-tenancy inspections work, not legal advice. Deposit scheme guidance changes — check the current rules with your scheme before relying on a deduction.